


The Best Deceptions

by SmoakingGreenArrow



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Death, F/M, Or Felicity, not Oliver, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 05:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 46,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13920333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoakingGreenArrow/pseuds/SmoakingGreenArrow
Summary: From the moment Oliver Queen met Felicity Smoak, all he’d wanted to do was keep her safe. But to protect her and his city, he had to become something else. Five years later, Felicity finds herself wrapped up in a dangerous murder investigation and a treacherous relationship. Intent on finding out the truth, she has to rely on a government sector she doesn’t trust, the hacking skills she gave up on, and a man who she thought had given up on her.





	1. Goner

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I received this prompt that sparked an awesome conversation over on Tumblr, and this story is going to be my attempt at fulfilling it:  
> “Would you ever think about writing a fic where Felicity is dating Adrian and maybe he’s the throwing star killer and she’s always had an off feeling about him but she doesn’t know he’s that messed up and she’s trying to figure out who the killer is and it leads her to start working with The Green Arrow and then she falls in love with Oliver?”
> 
> So the first thing I want to do is give a disclaimer that the relationship between Adrian and Felicity, while not explicit, will be present. Adrian is not a mentally stable character, he is manipulative and obviously quite scary. You can expect this to come up, and know that Felicity will be much more involved in the storyline than she was on the show. Their relationship isn't a healthy one, so I just wanted to give that warning.   
> But you know, it is still an Olicity story. :)  
> Secondly, that awesome conversation I mentioned also inspired another story being written by the wonderful cfcureton, so you should definitely start reading A Dance with the Devil if you're not already!

Red and blue lights flashed in Felicity’s eyes as she stood on the sidewalk in front of her company. Her arms were folded across her chest, fighting off the chill that her dress welcomed, the breeze blowing over her skin and giving her goosebumps.

The sirens created a ringing in her ears and the wet pavement reflected the lights from the police cruisers. It was disorienting, and she could see the officers stepping out of their cars, most of them rushing past her to get inside.

Smoak Technologies had always felt safe to her. Within those walls, she was confident. She knew what she was good at, and she did her job well. She was a leader, and the hundreds of employees that worked for her relied on her. They trusted her. She’d earned that trust, she’d worked hard for it, and she was proud of the relationships she’d built. As the CEO, she made sure that everyone working at her company knew her name, and that she knew all of theirs in return.

She’d always done her best to protect her employees from budget cuts, downsizing, and greediness from her board members...she’d been prepared for all of that, she’d just never imagined that she’d have to protect anyone from  _this_. 

“Ms. Smoak?”

Felicity lifted her eyes to see a brown haired woman standing in front of her. She couldn’t register much more than her face and the police badge hanging from her hand, so she blinked a few times. “Yes?”

“I’m Detective Drake with the SCPD. Are you hurt?” Felicity stared at the woman for a long moment, her voice sounding far away but her eyes seemed to be right in front of Felicity’s face. “Ms. Smoak, are you injured?” The detective asked more clearly, glancing over her body.

Felicity shook her head, confused by the question, unaware of the blood that covered her chest, neck, and hands.

“Would you mind if I asked you a few questions then?”

Felicity glanced back at the doors where his body was being wheeled out of her building, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Taking a deep breath in, she released it slowly before opening her eyes to look at the detective. “I’m sorry, I just-”

“It’s okay, Ms. Smoak. Just look at me and answer the best you can, okay?” Felicity nodded once. “Did you know the victim?”

“Uh, yes, I did,” she breathed, “His name is Curtis Holt. He’s one of my best inventors.  _Was_...” she cringed, “he  _was_ one of my best inventors. And a really good friend.”

The detective paused, sizing Felicity up. “I’m sorry for your loss, Ms. Smoak. When was the last time you saw Mr. Holt alive?”

Felicity shivered, noticing the distinction. She’d seen him both alive and  _not_ alive, so Detective Drake had to specify. “We were both working late,” Felicity explained, “It’s not uncommon for Curtis and I to both stick around after everyone else has gone home. Um, I was in my office and he was in one of the work stations. He stopped in to get my signature. He needed me to approve some funding, and that was the last time. But I could hear him all night. He sings while he works." A soft smile spread across her face at the memory; Curtis had been performing show tunes for most of the night, which always put her in a good mood while she did her own work in her office down the hall. "I, uh, I heard him scream-and when I went into the room, he was on the floor, and I...I tried to save him but I couldn’t stop the bleeding.”

Detective Drake analyzed her for a long moment, her face clear of any emotion but full of cautiousness as she glanced from her head to her toes. Felicity swallowed, knowing what was coming.

Their town had a serial killer on the loose.

An empty building and a dead body with her as the only witness...

“Ms. Smoak, I’m very sorry to have to do this to you, but would you mind coming down to the station to give a statement?”

* * *

 

When she’d first been asked to go to the station, Felicity had gotten nervous, expecting handcuffs and officers screaming in her face like in those cop movies. She’d never been arrested. Her only brush in with the police was having the FBI drag her away from Cooper during his arrest in college. 

She’d never been questioned before.

Granted, she’d also never been a witness in a murder investigation, either. She'd never seen anyone die.

Detective Drake sat across from her at a metal table, seated beside Captain Lance. She’d been kind enough to tell Felicity that her first name was Dinah. And Captain Lance had entered the room with a cup of coffee to offer her. 

They asked her more about what happened, but most of it was a blur.

She told them what she knew, surprised by their patience for her scattered memory, still in shock. Felicity remembered hearing Curtis scream, running for his office, seeing him on the floor and then trying to stop her friend from bleeding out.

She’d failed.

It all happened so quickly.

No, she didn't see anyone. Just Curtis.

What she didn’t mention to the officers was that Curtis was lucid enough to mumble something to her before he died. She had no idea what stopped her from telling Detective Drake and Captain Lance about what Curtis had said. All she knew was that it felt personal. Her friend had looked right into her eyes and said it like a promise. It felt like a message for  _her_.

“Is there anything else you remember?” Captain Lance asked after going over the same story three or four times, “anything that might give us a lead on who did this?”

Felicity blinked back tears and shook her head. “He was alone by the time I got into the room, and I didn’t see anyone-I didn’t even see a weapon, I have no idea what could have-there was just so much blood, and...”

“That’s okay, Ms. Smoak,” Dinah said comfortingly, placing her hand over Felicity’s. “We can figure those things out with forensics. We’ll probably ask you to come back later, see if anything comes back to you after you have some time to digest everything.”

Felicity just nodded, glancing down at Detective Drake’s hand over hers. Her eyes widened, noticing for the first time that her own hands were stained red with blood. She blinked quickly, trying to make the bizarre image normal, but the blood wasn’t going anywhere.

“Okay,” Detective Drake squeezed her hand. When Felicity looked up at her, the woman was blurry through her watery eyes, and Dinah smiled gently. Felicity wondered how pitiful she must look, because even Captain Lance seemed confused by Detective Drake’s compassion. “Let me just check in with the officers at the scene and then I’m sure we’ll be able to send you home.” 

Felicity nodded in response, her eyes falling down to her hands again. Below the red stains, her knuckles were white as she gripped her fingers together too tightly, her hands beginning to shake.

Dinah Drake walked out of the interrogation room, hearing Captain Lance giving Felicity his phone number if she needed anything and asking her not to go too far. She turned into the observation room next door, silently putting her hands behind her back and crossing the room to stand at the window. 

“So,” she let out an exhausted breath, “what do you think?”

“She’s not a murderer, Dinah,” Oliver growled. “Look at her.”

“I know. I’ve been a cop for ten years. I know a guilty person when I see one. And that woman is terrified.” Dinah watched as Oliver’s shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “She’ll be okay.”

Oliver shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets, “It’s not my business. Not anymore.” He kept his eyes on Felicity, watching as she stared down at her lap. She looked at her hands as if she didn’t recognize them, and he wondered what she was thinking about. She was covered in blood, in shock, and way more vulnerable than he'd ever wanted her to be. Her strength was fractured, fairly, but it broke his heart to see. 

When Lance managed to get Felicity’s attention again, she glanced up at him with wide eyes, blinking back moisture and sucking her bottom lip into her mouth. 

Oliver leaned closer to the two-way glass, watching the way Felicity held her own hand under the table, comforting herself. He cursed under his breath. “Listen...” Dinah started, “I know you probably have a lot going on in your head right now...but Felicity is the only witness to the latest murder in our city. We found her covered in the victim’s blood. We’re going to need to call her back in here. This isn’t over for her.”

“Unless you can connect her to every other Throwing Star killing, then yes, I think it is. You’ll leave her out of this, Dinah. I mean it.”

Detective Drake huffed out a breath of annoyance. “I’m not saying she’s a serial killer, Oliver. But if you didn’t have blinders for that woman, you’d see that she’s our best shot at catching this guy. You told me what she can do...maybe we could use a little bit of that.”

Oliver cocked his head as he watched Felicity. “No,” he snapped, “I said no. Felicity stays out of this.”

“She’s already in it, Oliver.”

He wasn’t looking at Dinah, but he could feel the anger radiating off of her, and he knew that she was about to dive into a lecture about how stupid he was being. 

But he was more worried about Felicity. 

Felicity owned one of the most profitable companies in the city, and he was the mayor, so he was used to having to nod and smile when he ran into her. But this was different. This was  _so_ different. 

He’d come home five years ago, and at the time, Felicity Smoak was the best IT girl that Queen Consolidated had to offer. When he’d first been starting his mission, he’d used her skill to help him find his targets. It didn’t take more than a few trips to her department for him to catch feelings.

He’d fallen for her. Hard and fast. He’d just been starting out on his mission, and he’d definitely needed her help, but he also knew that he had a tendency to make up excuses just so he could see her. 

She made him feel like himself again. She’d made him laugh again. 

Asking her out a few months later had been a no-brainer. He’d finally been ready to tell her everything; what he was doing in the city, what she’d inadvertently helped him to do, everything that happened to him the five years he was away.

And he’d been so nervous when she agreed, because he was fairly certain that he was already in love with her. 

But it had changed everything for him, looking down at her as he’d carried her, unconscious, out of that restaurant. He’d brought her there. He’d done that to her. So he’d pushed Felicity away. He’d  _had_ to.

The door behind them swung open, pulling him out of his thoughts. “I thought that was my job!”

Oliver and Dinah both turned as a man thundered in, slamming the door behind him. Oliver cocked his head to the side, “I’m sorry...you are?”

“Pissed, royally, off.” The man said, putting both of his hands on his hips and glaring at them. Dinah and Oliver traded glances. And then Oliver just leveled him with a look. They had another murder on their hands. And now Felicity had wound up in the middle of it and this was where he’d never intended for her to be...where he’d sacrificed everything he wanted to make sure she stayed far away from. 

He had enough to worry about. “Adrian,” the man supplied when he realized that Oliver wasn’t going to say anything else, “Chase. I’m your new District Attorney.”

“Oh,” Oliver said, holding his hand out. Adrian shook it, “I’m sorry we haven’t had the chance to meet yet.”

“I’m up to my eyeballs with a murder investigation during my first week, at one of the most respected companies in this town, no less. So how about we save the pleasantries for next time and get down to why I am-”

“You are so pissed off,” Oliver interrupted.

“Royally,” Adrian offered, raising his eyebrows. He pointed through the window at Felicity, “That’s my client. I should have been called. And what is the mayor doing watching a police interview? That’s kind of outside of your jurisdiction, wouldn’t you say?”

Oliver stared at Adrian. He wasn’t wrong, but Oliver wasn’t in the mood for it, and he already didn’t like this guy. 

Dinah frowned, “We were questioning a witness to a crime. She’s not under arrest, Mr. Chase. Mayor Queen is perfectly able to be here.” She narrowed her eyes at the DA, “Ms. Smoak never asked for a lawyer.”

Adrian Chase just held his hand up before leaving the room again. Oliver and Dinah watched through the window as he barged into the interview room, and Felicity’s shoulders slumped as they looked at each other.

But when Chase knelt down next to her chair and put his hand on her cheek, moving her hair behind her ear, Oliver’s eyebrows rose, his back stiffening. “Are you okay?” Adrian asked her, and Felicity nodded. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“Uh,” Felicity glanced at Captain Lance, who Adrian hadn’t paid attention to yet. “I just got caught up in everything.”

“I’m a lawyer, Felicity. You should have called me before talking to the police.”

She seemed confused by that. “Why? I was there when Curtis...they just wanted to ask me questions. I wanted to help, I’m not being accused of murder.” She turned to Lance, the first hint of a smile Oliver had seen on her face all night played over her lips, however weak it was. He knew her well enough to know that she was nervous.

Tonight, Felicity had seen someone die, a friend of hers, and then she'd immediately been questioned by the police. She had blood on her hands, her dress and her neck. She was scared. And confused. But through all of that, he hadn't seen her look _nervous_. His eyes narrowed as Felicity forced another smile for the District Attorney.

She looked back at Captain Lance,“I’m not under arrest, am I?” She asked weakly.

The Captain shook his head, “No, ma’am, as I said when we sat down, you were free to leave at any time.”

“It’s a murder investigation, Felicity,” Adrian argued, a little sharper this time. “You should have stayed at Smoak Tech. I went over there as soon as I heard.”

Felicity just blinked. “I know it’s a murder investigation, Adrian...I was there. Curtis was my friend.”

Chase sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his thumb against her cheek, “I know. I’m sorry. It's just...scary to see you like this. I was worried.” He turned to Lance, “are you finished here?” 

Captain Lance lifted his hands from the table in response, cocking his head to the side as he watched Adrian. 

“Can I take you home?” Chase asked, looking up at Felicity again as he reached for her hands.

Oliver didn’t even blink as he stared at them, and he barely felt Dinah’s hand on his arm. His friend mumbled his name cautiously, letting him know that he must look as murderous as he felt.

Felicity hesitated a moment before nodding, and Lance turned his head to raise an eyebrow in Dinah and Oliver’s direction before he stood up to open the door for them. “Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Smoak.”

“Of course,” she mumbled, ringing her fingers together as Adrian put his hands on her shoulders. “Please call me if you need anything else.”

Lance nodded, picking up the card with his number on it from the table and handing it to Felicity. She smiled in thanks as Lance led them out of the room.

Oliver was moving for the hallway without thinking, hearing Dinah’s sharp “Oliver, don’t!” in a hushed but stern tone.

He ignored her, swinging the door open and standing in the frame as Felicity came out of the room, followed by Adrian and Lance. 

Felicity’s eyes met his and widened. “Oliver?” She cleared her throat, “Uh, Mr. Mayor. What are you doing here? Or, how are you? I mean-what are you doing here?” She squeezed her eyes shut, and Adrian glanced from her to Oliver and back.

“I’m well, Felicity. I heard about what happened tonight...” he watched as her eyes changed, lightening as she stared at him. “Figured I should come see if I’m needed.” He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep himself from reaching out to her, from running his thumb over her neck and wiping off the blood that was there. “Are you okay?”

God, it killed him. The blood on her skin. The things she'd seen tonight. The history that kept him from being allowed to comfort her. The look on her face. As if she couldn’t understand why he would ask her that. Why he would care. He’d done a good job of making sure she thought he didn’t. And he'd spent the past five years thinking that he could live with that...but it was absolutely breaking his heart. 

“Yeah,” she finally breathed, her eyes leaving his to glance behind her at Adrian Chase. “I mean, okay as I can be. How okay can a person really be after watching their friend die, right?”

He didn’t know what to say.

This was  _everything_ he’d wanted to keep her out of. And for the first time in five years, he wondered if he’d made a mistake. He hadn’t prevented her from looking like she did now; hurt and frightened. All he'd done was push her away, made it so that he hadn't been there.

He’d always thought he was protecting her. Always thought he was keeping her away from this pain.

Yet here they were.

Felicity bit her lip, giving him a forced smile and waving hesitantly as Chase put his hand on her back, leading her out of the station.

Dinah whistled as they left, “Smooth. Now what, genius?”

Oliver let out a huff of annoyance. “Now we keep her safe. Who knows why the Throwing Star killer went to Smoak Tech tonight.” He shook his head once, looking at Dinah with resolve, “we’re not letting anything happen to her.”

* * *

 

Felicity thanked Adrian for bringing her home, reaching for the door handle, and he put his hand over hers. "Wait," he stopped her, "do you want me to come inside? I can stay with you tonight, you've been through a lot, Felicity. I don't think you should be alone."

She hesitated, shaking her head as she turned back to him, "we agreed on slow, Adrian."

He laughed once, "I'm not saying that we need to rush into anything. I can sleep on the couch. I just don't like the idea of you being by yourself."

Felicity smiled gently, hearing the anxiousness in his voice. "I'll be fine, but thank you for offering." Felicity leaned over, pressing her lips against his cheek and mumbling her goodnight.

She made her way inside, finally releasing the breath she'd been holding as she closed her door and leaned against it.

The first thing she did was turn the lights on. All of them. Being alone wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but forcing a smile for her boyfriend all night seemed even worse.

They'd been dating for four months, but sometimes it felt like she didn't know him at all. Which led her to be hesitant. She knew that Adrian was a good guy; smart and determined, but there were just _moments_...where something felt off. Weird. She didn't want to admit that most of those instances were usually around a time when she'd have Oliver Queen on her mind. Maybe Adrian sensed that he didn't have her full attention, or maybe it was all in her head. But she'd bump into the mayor at a fundraiser, or see him at an event, and she'd have a hard time rewiring her brain to forget about him for the next few days. And that was typically when Adrian would feel distant.

Her process of handling Oliver had been a five year habit, but the difference now was that Adrian was in her life.

Felicity went into the bathroom, peeling off the bloody dress and throwing it into the trash. It wasn’t like she could ever wear that dress again without remembering what happened, even if she managed to get the stains out. 

An hour-long shower helped to calm her down a little, but she was still certain that she wouldn’t be getting any sleep. The blood washed off, turning the water red when she first stepped under the spray, and she’d had to stare down at her feet until the water ran clear again. And then she scrubbed every inch of her skin raw and stood with her back under the beating streams, letting them work against her muscles.

Satisfied that she’d gotten every ounce of zen from the hot water that she could, she stepped out into her foggy bathroom and immediately wrapped herself up in her bathrobe. 

She was stalling. Anxious, but stalling. Curtis had given her a breadcrumb to follow...and she had no idea where the answers would take her, but she knew that it was nowhere good. 

With a sigh, Felicity sat down in front of her computer, cracking her knuckles and trying to relax. All the work her shower had done was lost as she typed the word into the search bar.

“Prometheus” was a name she remembered from a Greek Mythology course she took in college. She’d always been fascinated with Mythology, which was why the word had seemed so bizarre to hear, wheezed out in her friend's final moments. A quick search told her that it meant “forethought,” but she had no idea what that had to do with the recent murders.

She remembered learning about the story of Prometheus in class, that he was a Titan who defied the gods. A trickster who challenged the authority of the Olympians, known for his feud with Zeus.

Felicity hesitated with her fingers over the keys. There was a reason Curtis had left her with this name, and she hadn’t obstructed justice for nothing. It was a mystery she had to solve. Answers that she owed to her friend.

But it’d been a while since she’d hacked into anything. Not since her Helix days. Hacking was a part of herself she’d given up when Helix had gone down. It was a piece of her past that she’d wanted to forget; naive girl thinks she can be a hero, girl joins hacktivist group thinking she can do some good, girl’s mentor gets kidnapped by the government and never returns...same old story.

Taking a deep breath, she started with the SCPD databases, hacking in easily and looking for anything relating to Prometheus. Unsurprisingly, it came up empty. She'd assumed as much, if the SCPD had anything on a criminal-a killer-named Prometheus, they probably would have mentioned it to the public by now. So she broadened her search to the rest of the country.

Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed in frustration when that came up empty, too. Curtis wouldn’t have said “Prometheus” if it didn’t mean something.

If it didn’t mean  _everything_.

There was one more source she knew she had to try, but she needed to set up some securities for herself first. A.R.G.U.S would recognize her digital footprints all over this hack, seeing her coming from a mile away and they’d lock her out before she had a chance to find anything. 

Also, she'd probably have a hoard of agents at her door in less than ten minutes, dragging her off to god knows where like they did to Cayden James.

Taking an hour to protect herself was time-consuming and annoying, but ultimately worth it. Once she was safely through their firewall, she quickly did her search, wanting to get out of there before anyone caught on to her. A.R.G.U.S had relaxed slightly once they’d caught Cayden, but they were still a terrifying and paranoid bunch.

Felicity held her breath as an image came up. A man standing on a roof dressed in all green, a hood over his head and a mask covering his face. “Oh my god,” she breathed as she read the information under the photo. Apparently he’d been spotted around the country, drawing A.R.G.U.S attention about a year ago. The government was tracking where he’d been for the past few months, dropping bodies in fourteen different states. But his most recent location made her heart sink.

He was in Starling.

At least, as far as Director Michaels knew, he was here three weeks ago.

She quickly saved the information and got out of the A.R.G.U.S database, doing her best to delete any traces of her hack.

Then she spent the rest of the night staring at the photo, knowing that this man had to be the one that killed her friend. But why was the most twisted and corrupt division of the government the only ones who knew about him?

There was something familiar about the picture, and since there was no way she was going to get even a minute of sleep anyway, Felicity got to work on trying to clear it. The picture was blurry, making it hard to tell exactly where he was standing, but she was positive that he was on a roof somewhere.

She wasn’t sure if A.R.G.U.S had pixelated the background or if Prometheus had done it, but she had a few too many hours until the sun came up, and focusing on the photo seemed like a better use of her time than staring up at her ceiling while she pretended she was sleeping.

It took her two hours to clear up the image. Definitely not an A.R.G.U.S job. Lyla Michaels had some pretty skilled hackers, but not that good. Prometheus must have used some kind of tech to pixelate the image before the government got their hands on it because the work was far too intricate to be done by one person, and even A.R.G.U.S hadn't been able to clear it.

With the image finally visible, Felicity realized why she recognized the area. She looked at those streets every day from her office on the top floor. 

Prometheus was standing on top of Smoak Technologies.

* * *

 

Oliver’s eyes scanned the streets from the top of the roof. He didn’t want to invade on her privacy, but he had to know that she was okay. 

Her lights stayed on all night, and he went back and forth about calling her, or even knocking on her door. He could just say that he’d wanted to check on her, couldn’t he?

He’d definitely lost that right, but what she’d been through should make it irrelevant. The only thing stopping him was that he had no idea if Adrian Chase was in there, too. 

Maybe she was alone and she wouldn’t mind Oliver’s company. Or maybe she wasn’t alone and she already had the company she wanted. Either way, he couldn’t stop thinking about the jealous heat that had sparked in him while he watched Adrian and Felicity at the station. 

It’d been five years since he’d let himself feel for Felicity so completely. But he’d also never seen her with someone else...he’d never had to face his feelings so directly. He could nod and smile through the galas and fundraisers they both ended up at, and then he could go home and pretend that he hadn't spent the whole night watching her and wanting her. He could ignore it, shove his feelings down deep.

The truth was that she was the one that got away for him. But even more truthfully...she was the one he’d pushed away. He was standing on a rooftop with a bow in his hand, a mask on his face, and a hood over his head, so he knew he’d had good reasons. He had the physical and emotional scars to remind him why he wanted Felicity far away from him.

Seeing her the way he had tonight though...none of it seemed worth it. For the first time, he was beginning to wonder if she would have been safer close to him rather than away. At least for now, he knew it was true. He could keep her safe.

If he hadn’t given up on what he’d wanted five years ago, maybe he would have her curled up safely in his arms right now, protecting her from all of this...instead of lurking on rooftops outside of her loft. Maybe none of this would have even happened to her if he'd been in her life.

Oliver was pulled from his thoughts as the door of her apartment building swung open, and Felicity emerged, wearing a pair of leggings, an over-sized MIT sweatshirt, and a purse slung across her chest. The wind blew her hair as she hurried across the street to her car, glancing all around her.

His eyes narrowed, and he swung down from the roof, landing in the back alley where his bike was. 

Oliver waited as she got into her car, and then followed her.

All the way to Smoak Technologies.

The building was on lock down, and even the CEO's keys were disabled. He parked his bike and made his way to the roof across the street, watching her as she put her hands on her hips, blowing her hair out of her face in frustration when he key card denied her access for the fifth time. “Damn it,” she muttered to herself.

Expecting her to go home, Oliver stiffened as she circled her own building, finding the fire escape and starting her climb. He scanned the area, wondering what the hell she thought she was doing. 

This was the last place she should be. And what was she going to do, bust in through the roof?

As Felicity reached the roof, Oliver crouched down, ensuring that she wouldn’t see him. She huffed as she looked out at the city, catching her breath. Then she reached into her purse and pulled out a photo. She held it up, analyzing it against the city, and he moved closer. He couldn’t see the picture from the distance he was at, but she looked like she was trying to get an angle on something.

With a sigh, Oliver shot an arrow into the brick of her building, quickly swinging across the alley. His feet landed silently behind her, and he pressed the button for his voice modulator. “Felicity Smoak,”

She let out a yelp, whirling around to face him and shoving the picture behind her back in the same moment. Her eyes looked him up and down, wide with surprise as she panted, pushing her hair behind her ears. "You have failed this city," she growled back, forced, nervous laughter escaping her lips. Oliver cocked his head to the side, and she shook her head. "Sorry, I head you...I heard you say that. To criminals. Not that I'm a criminal. I'm not. You don't think I am, do you?"

Oliver held his palms up, "No," he started, preparing himself to have to convince her that he didn't mean her any harm. But then she surprised him. She exhaled with relief, her features relaxing. She believed him without another question.

“What are you doing up here?” He asked quietly as she caught her breath, closing her eyes.

Felicity bit her lip, looking as if she was debating what to tell him. She finally sighed, pulling the picture out and walking towards him. “I think this is who killed my friend.” She said, offering it to him.

He stiffened as she got close enough that he could reach out and take the picture, ducking his head when she met his gaze. The last thing he needed was for her to recognize him.

“Did you see this man?” Oliver asked, frowning at the terrifying mask and surplus of weapons on his body. "Tonight?" He hoped she hadn’t seen him in person. Someone who dressed up like this had no business being near her. He cringed as he remembered what he was wearing...

“No,” Felicity said, shaking her head. “My friend...he said something to me before he died.”

Oliver hesitated, “you didn’t mention that to the police.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes, looking at him in such a direct way that he had to glance away, taking a step back. He could see the question she wanted to ask. How the hell did The Green Arrow know what she did or didn’t say to the police? But she chose to refrain from asking. “I felt like Curtis wanted me to know, not them.” She said with a shrug.

Withholding information from the police could get her in a lot of trouble. But Felicity wasn’t the same woman on that roof as she'd been in the interrogation room. She wasn’t frightened of him. She didn't seem as dazed. The officers had intimidated her, but somehow he didn't. Here, she knew that a masked vigilante had no right to judge her decisions when it came to following the law. “What did Curtis Holt tell you?”

Felicity crossed her arms, pointing to the picture, “Prometheus.”

Oliver looked down at the masked man again, analyzing the photo, he realized where the man was standing. “This is Prometheus?”

“Yes,” she breathed, her breath coming out in a puff as it hit the cold air. “Curtis used his last breath to tell me that name. And I think he was hoping I would find out who Prometheus is. Who his killer is."

"Detective Drake and Captain Lance think the Throwing Star killer did it."

Felicity sighed, "I think it was him."

"How did you get this?"

Her shoulders straightened, "it doesn't matter. All that matters is that he's a killer. He has nine murders under his belt. Ten including Curtis. We need to find him."

Oliver shook his head, “You need to give this information to the police.”

“I don’t trust the police.”

“Why not?” He asked.

Felicity glanced away, crossing her arms. “It doesn’t matter," she said again. Oliver stared at her, seeing her in a different light. She'd never been one to keep secrets, but he supposed that a lot had changed in five years. For both of them. "I was hoping that you would get involved in this. That you would help me. I didn't know how to get into contact with you, but rooftops at 3:00 in the morning seems to fit.”

“I’ll look into it.” He grumbled, not liking the way she dodged his questions.

She shook her head again, “Prometheus has been killing all over the country. I dug up a file on him, if he’s in Starling, it won’t be good.”

Oliver clenched his jaw. He had a bad feeling about Prometheus, and he really didn’t like the idea of someone like that being in Smoak Technologies. Knowing who Felicity is. Targeting her. The photograph was clearly from this same rooftop. And if he'd killed Holt, he'd gotten inside...through her security measures.

“Felicity...you need to stay away from this.”

She scoffed, “you sound like my ex.” Oliver froze, staring at her. “Well, not my ex. We didn’t technically date. I mean we had one date. But he said the same thing. I’ll tell you what I never got the chance to tell him.” She stepped closer, looking up at him with resolved eyes, “I make my own decisions. This is my life. My choice. I’m doing this with or without your help.”

Oliver sighed, he believed that. And he’d prefer to have her close, trusting him and knowing what she was doing, rather than her getting into this on her own. Because it was clear that he wasn't about to stop her. “Fine,” he growled, “but at least for tonight, go home. I’ll be in touch when I know more.” He fired another arrow into the bricks across the street.

“Wait!” She stopped him with a hand on his forearm, and he turned slowly to look at her, his heart seizing at her touch. He’d survived hell and the city’s worst, but Felicity Smoak’s hand on his arm made his heart race. “How can I reach you? If I find anything else, I mean?”

“I’ll come by tomorrow night with whatever I find. You can tell me then.”

Her tongue came out, and she bit it between her lips. “You know where I live?”

He just nodded once, keeping his back stiff. He knew what a firecracker she was, and he didn't expect that she'd be very happy about the controversial vigilante knowing her address...but she just cocked her head to the side, a gentle smile pulling at her lips. “How do you know that?”

“Whoever killed your friend, Felicity," Oliver whispered, unable to keep his eyes off of her, "he left you. You were right down the hall, and he didn't touch you.”

“Well, I'm pretty happy about that.”

"Me too," he breathed instinctively, causing her eyes to dart up to his. Oliver clenched his jaw, "But _why_...would he avoid you?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her shoulders, "I never actually saw anything..."

Oliver shook his head. Whether she saw something or not, the killer on their hands was calculated. Prometheus. The Throwing Star killer. Both were smart, they didn't leave witnesses. He knew Felicity was there. And he chose not to kill her. Oliver spoke before he could think, "I wasn't willing to take that risk." He mumbled.

She raised an eyebrow, “You’re protecting me?”

Oliver hesitated, fidgeting with his bow, “is that a problem?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head with another hint of a smile. He didn’t want to read too much into the way her shoulders relaxed, her features smoothing for the first time all night. But then she really gave him a blow to his heart, sending it soaring when she whispered, “Maybe I’ll actually be able to sleep...knowing you’re watching out for me.”

Felicity stepped closer, putting her hands on his forearms. He stiffened, his head telling him to move, not to let her get too close, but his body warmed under her touch. 

Oliver's heart raced as Felicity leaned into him, lifting herself onto her toes and kissing his cheek.

As she lowered herself back down, she took a step back, smiling shyly at him. “What was that for?” He asked in a whisper.

“For proving me right,” she nodded, “I had a feeling you’d be close to this case...and I knew I’d have someone I could trust.”

He bit his lip, nodding his head towards the ladder she’d come up, “Go home and get some sleep, Felicity. You’ll be safe.”

She quirked an eyebrow, “I didn’t see you climbing your way to this roof. How’d you get up here?”

Oliver fought a smile, quickly turning and firing his arrow across the street. He readied himself to swing to the ground, looking back at her.

She grinned back at him, a genuine smile, and he cocked his head to the side.

The next thing he knew, he was holding his hand out to her. And her eyes widened, “Seriously?”

“The ladder’s there if you want it...”

Felicity’s head swung between him and the ladder, and he knew she was dreading the idea of having to climb all the way back down. It’d taken her twenty minutes to get up there, and the adrenaline in her system that had pushed her up here was probably gone now. Felicity licked her lips as she stepped towards him, placing her hand in his. 

“Hold on to me tight,” he mumbled as his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. He heard her exhale, her gaze meeting his, an excited yet hesitant look in her blue eyes. He stared down at her for a moment, trying not to notice how good it felt when her arms wrapped around his neck. “Ready?”

She nodded, and he stepped off the building. He’d done this enough times to safely swing down and watch her at the same time. So his eyes were on her face as the ground came out from under them, and he heard her yelp, watching as her eyes squeezed shut. Her grip was tight, her fingers digging in through the leather of his jacket and biting the skin on his shoulders. 

He didn’t care, because as the wind blew her hair in his face, she buried her head into the crook of his neck, holding on to him tightly like he’d asked. And he could feel her tiny gasp against his neck just before she held her breath.

Their feet touched the ground only a moment later, but it felt like so much longer.

Felicity didn’t move, her breath heavy and her arms still locked around him. He instinctively squeezed his arms tighter around her, letting her know that she was safe. And it hit Oliver how much trust she’d just put into him. Sure, he knew she really didn’t want to take the ladder all the way back down. But she’d just come face to face with the Green Arrow for the first time, and she'd literally jumped off a building in his arms...trusted that she’d be okay. He had no idea what a masked vigilante with a turbulent police history had done to earn her trust, but he instantly vowed to himself that he would keep it. “Felicity...” he whispered, knowing how strained his voice came out, even through the modulator.

She inhaled sharply, her eyes blinking open. “Right. Feet. This is the ground. We’re done.”

She let go, taking a shaky step back, and he held on to her arm, keeping her steady. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yup. This is just my ‘I might hack’ face, I get it when I’m about to, you know, hack.” 

Oliver lifted his chin, stepping towards her and putting his hand on the back of her neck. Yao Fei had taught him all about pressure points on the human body, and Oliver gently pushed his thumb against her neck. Felicity exhaled as the nausea passed, looking up at him curiously.

“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” She mumbled. Her eyes were on him in pure intrigue, and she lifted her hand, placing it over his gloved one that still rested on her neck.

Oliver stepped back, lifting his bow out to the side and clearing his throat.

He was being an idiot. If he’d approached anyone else in this city for a late night conversation, he would have been gone in under two minutes. But since it was her...

He knew how smart she was, he knew that if he wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t take her very long to figure out who the man under the hood was. And wasn’t that the secret he’d been trying to protect her from for all these years? If she knew...she’d want to help, she’d want to be involved in his crusade, and he couldn’t risk her life like that.

Felicity may be in danger already, but that didn’t mean he had to put her in even  _more_ danger. He could protect her tonight, and every other night until their city was vacant of serial killers. And then he could go back to normal. _Her life_ could go back to normal.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he settled, turning away from her without another word.


	2. The Run and Go

_Five years ago:_

_Oliver paced nervously in front of Felicity’s cubicle, waiting for her to get back from her break. He’d spent months building a friendship with her, and building up the nerve to ask her out. He could tell that she had a crush on him. At least a little bit. Or, she at least found him attractive. She’d made some not so subtle remarks about his abs._

_Thinking that he was attractive and wanting to date him were different things though. Maybe her flirting was innocent, maybe she was bored, or maybe she liked his company but didn’t want anything more from him than the surprise visits he’d make to her office._

_His excuses to see her were getting more and more ridiculous. He was purposely coming up with the most unbelievable and laughable lies he could think of, waiting for her to push him or call him on it. But she never did. She’d just purse her lips, nod, and get started on trying to find his “energy drink” in a syringe, or arrows for a “scavenger hunt.”_

_Oliver was doing his best to focus on asking her out, because that was the first step. The first of many, he hoped, but she had to say yes before he could start to go after what he really wanted._

_He was already falling in love with her._

_Once she agreed to a date, then he could worry about what he planned on_ saying  _during that date. He was going to tell her. He was going to admit he was The Hood and ask her to help him and his partner, John Diggle._

_He could imagine it, and it was a future he wanted; the three of them working together. But first he had to know. He had to know if she could possibly have the same feelings for him that he had for her._

_“Oliver?”  
_

_Spinning around, he fumbled with the red pen he’d absently picked up from her desk. “Oh, hey! Hi, Felicity.” He dropped the pen back onto the table, folding his arms over his chest._

_“Twice in one day,” she smiled, coming around her desk and sitting in her chair. She picked up the pen, bringing it to her mouth as he watched her, remembering the first time they’d met and the strangely similar way she’d been positioned. “I haven’t found Garfield Lynns yet.” Felicity breathed, cocking her head to the side as she glanced up at him, giving him the same disbelieving expression she’d worn when he brought her a laptop riddled with bullets. He bit his lip to stop a smile. “Look,” she said, clicking the pen, “I know you said you and Garfield used to be buddies...and you want me to find him so you can ask him to join your ultimate ping pong team or whatever, like ‘the good old days-’”_

_“Frisbee.” Oliver interrupted with a grin, “I said I wanted Lynns back on my ultimate frisbee team.”_

_“Right...” She narrowed her eyes, “well, I haven’t found him, but I’ve been looking into it. He’s got quite the rap sheet, Oliver, are you sure you want to be hanging out with this guy? He’s been questioned for three different arson cases.”  
_

_“Mm-hm,” Oliver hummed, “I’d just like to see how he’s doing, even if he doesn’t join the team. Five years away and all that.”  
_

_Felicity raised an eyebrow, “Okay, I’ll try to get location by this afternoon, and I’ll uh...I’ll text you.”_

_He smiled, shuffling his feet. “I actually came by because I wanted to ask you something.”_

_Her shoulders perked up as she leaned across her desk, smiling up at him. He froze, not wanting to get his hopes too high...but she looked hopeful, like maybe she’d been waiting for this. Expecting it?_

_Oliver let out a breath, “would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?”_

_Felicity’s grin widened, and he subconsciously copied it, smiling back down at her. “Are you asking me on a date, Oliver Queen?” She teased, her eyes narrowing at him playfully._

_He laughed, relaxing because he was now pretty confident what her answer would be. “Yes,” he nodded, “I am. Are you saying yes, Felicity Smoak?”_

_To his amusement, she cocked her head to the side, rolling her eyes at him. “I’m saying_ finally _.”_

_He raised his eyebrows, “it feels like a yes...but it doesn’t quite sound like one...”_

_“Yes,” she rolled her eyes again, a habit that always made him laugh. She rolled her eyes at him a lot.  
_

_“Okay,” he smirked, “I’ll call you later.”  
_

_Felicity nodded as he backed out of her office, neither of them able to stop smiling. He kept his eyes on her, waving one more time as he left, but as soon as he was in the hallway, he went back and stuck his head in, “hey,” he got her attention, catching her just as she was letting out a deep breath, shaking her head as she turned back to her computer. Her eyes flew to the door. “You like Italian, right?” He asked. “Everyone likes Italian.”_

_She let out the cutest nervous giggle, rolling her eyes at him again. “Yes, I like Italian.”_

_He nodded, still beaming. “Good.”_

Oliver was lost in his thoughts, sitting at a table in the foundry with his arrows spread out in front of him. The sound of his partner’s footsteps pulled him out of his head, looking up at the stairs.

Diggle jogged down the steps, rounding the table. “All right, Dinah’s got Felicity covered. Where’s the picture?”

Oliver slid it across the table and his friend picked it up. John had been by his side since the beginning, he knew all about Felicity and what letting her go had done to him. Diggle probably knew his broody moods and how to handle them better than anyone. “Felicity said he calls himself Prometheus.”

“And what else did she say?” John asked, “during your little rooftop meeting?”

Oliver pinched his lips together, because first of all, Felicity hadn’t said much else. Second of all, Oliver hadn’t pushed her for details the way he would have if it were anyone else. And lastly...he’d been embarrassingly preoccupied with thinking about the way she’d held onto him when he swung her down from the building. Too preoccupied with his the feelings he still had for her to care that she’d mostly dodged his questions. But Oliver had reached out to his sources, which were scarce already. He knew The Bratva was his best shot at getting information, but even they were unaware of Prometheus.

“Nothing,” Oliver mumbled. “But Prometheus is on the roof of Smoak Tech, Dig. He killed Curtis Holt  _inside_ her building.”

“Yeah, or it was The Throwing Star Killer just like the other murders over the past few weeks.” 

“This feels different, John.”

Dig raised a knowing eyebrow, and Oliver kept his mouth closed. Then his partner’s eyes narrowed as he held the picture up to the light. He shoved it back in Oliver’s face. “Right hand corner, Oliver. What do you see?”

Oliver’s brow furrowed as he looked where John instructed. And he let out a string of curses when he noticed the familiar watermark. It was faint, so inconspicuous that you had to be looking for it to notice, which John obviously was. “How the hell did Felicity get this?” Oliver growled, irritated with himself for not seeing the marking sooner.

Diggle sighed, “she’s a hacker, man. She hacked. Lyla should know by now if someone was snooping around A.R.G.U.S files. She didn’t mention this.”

Oliver cursed again, “but how would Felicity even know that A.R.G.U.S exists? How would she have gotten into their records? I thought Lyla said it was impossible.”

“It should be impossible. Lyla told me their systems have only been compromised once. A group of hackers called Helix broke through their firewall about four years ago. A.R.G.U.S made improvements after that...so I can’t imagine that anyone would be able to get in now. Lyla took every precaution.”

“Well, Felicity is a genius,” Oliver mumbled under his breath.

“Yeah...” Diggle answered slowly, “or the  _hacker_ love of your life has a connection to the  _group of hackers_ who know how to infiltrate A.R.G.U.S. Come on man, look at the facts. Think with your head, not your heart.”

Standing up, Oliver grabbed his bow, getting ready to go see Felicity. Dinah was in a car outside her building keeping watch until dark, so he knew he should get going. “Just...call Lyla and ask her about Prometheus. Let me know what you find.”

Diggle nodded, and Oliver felt like he had a weight on his chest as he left the foundry. It stayed there as he got on his bike, drove to her apartment, and as he made his way to the rooftop across the street from her building.

He couldn’t imagine that the sweet and innocent girl he’d met five years ago would get involved with a group of criminals. Or that the founder of Smoak Technologies, the one who worked so hard to help the city, was capable of falling into that. She’d done so much  _good_ for the people in Starling. 

But then on the other hand, he  _could_ imagine it. Felicity had always wanted to help people, and there was a reason he’d reached out to her in the first place. She was insanely good at what she did. If she’d joined Helix, he was certain that it was for a good reason. It had to be.

His heart stopped when he noticed her figure, standing in front of the floor to ceiling windows of her loft. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she had a blanket wrapped tightly around her body, only her slippers peeking out of the bottom. She was perfect, and his heart skipped a beat as he wondered if she was looking for  _him_ , waiting for him to show up like he’d promised.

He let out a breath of relief, not realizing how tense he’d been all day or why. The weight lifted from his chest as he looked at Felicity. He hadn’t seen her since the night before. John and Dinah had helped keep an eye on her all day, and he was prepared to spend the night making sure she was safe again. He hadn’t seen her face or known how she was feeling since he swung her down from the roof of Smoak Technologies the night before. 

Now that he could see her again, he relaxed, appreciating her natural beauty, wrapped in her blanket with her hair falling where it wanted to. He shook his head, trying to push down the domestic fantasies that flooded his mind. He could still remember what her favorite kind of tea was, the fruity one that helped her relax. She’d made him try it once, and they were both surprised that he’d liked it as much as she did. He remembered how she’d said her feet were always cold, and how adorably excited she’d been when he impulsively bought her a pair of ridiculous looking fuzzy socks. He’d known they would make her laugh. 

Oliver imagined having nights with her on the couch in her apartment, drinking that tea as they watched that Doctor Who show she liked so much, with her fuzzy sock covered feet in his lap and their familiar banter filling the room. 

He’d been  _content_ with those fantasies...before everything fell apart. Before he’d realized that he’d never been destined to be content...nor did he deserve it...especially not with her.

Oliver’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he hesitated for a moment before pulling it out, finally taking his eyes off of Felicity. It was a message from John: 

_I called Lyla to get some information. She can tell us what she has on Prometheus tonight if we stop by headquarters. She also said Helix disbanded after A.R.G.U.S raided them three years ago. Lyla only cared about getting their leader, a man named Cayden James. They arrested him and brought him to a black site. She let the others walk...including Felicity._

* * *

 

Howling wind had always been one of Felicity’s least favorite sounds. It was ominous and creepy, so of course it was all she could hear. She stood at the windows of her loft, wrapped in a blanket while she watched the city. 

She hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours, which she’d only managed to get thanks to exhaustion, in the middle of the afternoon. Sleeping at night with the wind screaming outside her window wasn’t going to happen. Luckily she had a vigilante looking out for her who also seemed to prefer the night, and she was waiting for him to show up.

Glancing back at the clock, Felicity wondered where he was. He said he’d be there, but they’d never said a time. Still, she trusted him that more than she trusted anyone else in her life at the moment. Felicity looked down at her phone again, seeing another text from Adrian. She sighed, typing back to tell him that she was fine and she’d been sleeping, because she knew that if she went another hour without answering, her boyfriend would be knocking down her door soon. And she was way too tired and distracted to deal with him. 

She had a killer to catch.

With a sigh, she tossed her phone onto the couch, and as her back was turned, she heard a different sound breaking through the wind. Metal cracking against the wall. Her eyes darted to the window, and she saw an arrow stuck in one of the bricks, a rope attached to it.

Felicity quickly opened the door and stepped out onto her balcony just as his feet were landing beside her. She let out a breath of surprise, and The Green Arrow stood up, touching the button on his chest that changed his voice.

“I have a front door.” She breathed.

He cocked his head to the side, “I figured you were waiting for me here.” He gestured to the window she’d been looking out of. Felicity just nodded, pursing her lips because of course he’d been out there for a while and of course she’d been waiting for him.

“Have you found anything on Prometheus?” Felicity asked hopefully, because she certainly hadn’t. All the information on him that she could find was what A.R.G.U.S had. Her capabilities with the internet could only go so far. She couldn’t dig anything up on him because there was nothing to dig…but her hopes were high that a vigilante might have more connections.

He shook his head, and Felicity’s shoulders slumped. Then he pulled out the picture of Prometheus she’d given him the night before from his jacket. “How did you get this?”

She hesitated, glancing at it as he held it up, not answering.

“Talk to me,” he murmured, his voice somehow sounding comforting yet pleading, despite the robotic tone from the modulator.

“I’m a hacker. If it’s on the internet, I can find it.”

“ _Where_ did you get it, Felicity?” He breathed, slight annoyance hitching with his question and her tendency to deflect them.

Her eyes narrowed, “I get the sense that you already know.”

He clenched his jaw, looking away from her. “What do you know about Helix?”

“Helix?” She gasped, tightening the blanket around her body. “No,” she shook her head, “no, we’re not talking about Helix, we’re talking about Prometheus. And Curtis. This has nothing to do with Helix.”

“I didn’t know I was helping a criminal.” He accused.

Felicity glared up at him. “And what would you call yourself?” She inquired in an attempt to divert the conversation.

“I know what I am. But you…you’re supposed to be better than this. Helix is a crooked, dangerous organization, Felicity, what were you thinking getting involved with them?”

Her eyes widened, and she huffed out a breath, displeased with his focus. “What the hell do you care? It’s none of your business!”

He sighed, looking like he was trying to relax. “Did they give you this picture?”

“No,” she snapped, “I did the hack myself. I’m not with Helix anymore. I don’t even know where they are. I bailed after Cayden James’ arrest…not that it’s any of your business. But if you  _have_ to know, I got involved with them because I thought I could do some good for the world!” Her eyes were smoldering. “Not all that different from you, if you ask me!” She hissed.

His eyes darted back and forth between hers, as if he was trying to find something. She wasn’t sure what, but he definitely didn’t like her comparison. “Let’s go.” He finally grunted.

“Where?” She asked, her voice still defensive.

“A.R.G.U.S.”

Felicity shook her head quickly, “Oh no. No. No, no, no, no, no.”

He stared at her, “Whatever Helix told you about them is wrong,”

“Oh, really? So they don’t have a program that forces criminals to travel around the world completing risky tasks? Those criminals don’t call it The Suicide Squad? They don’t put bombs in their heads to kill them in case they try to escape? Because I found all of that and more on my own, I wasn’t disillusioned by Helix.”

“A.R.G.U.S  _is_ the government.” He argued, “their methods might not be up to your standards, but they do what’s necessary to keep the country safe.”

“Like you with this city?” She fired back.

He didn’t snap back at her, instead looking down at his feet. She flinched, her defensive anger fading the more he stayed calm. “Cayden James was bad news,” he mumbled after a moment, “he was a risk that the Director of A.R.G.U.S needed to contain. I don’t know what your relationship with him was, but he could have caused a lot of harm, Felicity-”

“I know exactly who Cayden James was,” she interrupted, “He had a temper and some of us had the bruises to prove it.”

The Green Arrow’s eyes flashed, “He hit you?”

Felicity just shrugged, her eyes glazing over as she remembered the one time it had happened. Just before his arrest.

And the reason she’d turned him in to A.R.G.U.S.

His violent outburst was the final push she’d needed to make sure Cayden would be put away. Most of the hackers at Helix were like her, wanting to do good. And that was how Cayden had started, too. But power was dangerous, and he’d gotten his hands on too much of it.

Still, it didn’t matter how dastardly Cayden was. It didn’t make A.R.G.U.S or Lyla Michaels any better. It had just made them her only option. The only people she knew that were capable of putting Cayden in a dark hole he couldn’t get out of. And she knew they’d wanted him.

“I know the kind of person Cayden James was.” She whispered, meeting The Green Arrow’s eyes, “I didn’t at first, but I’m a quick learner. I knew what he was capable of. I know what A.R.G.U.S is capable of, too…and I don’t want anything to do with them.”

“My partner...he’s married to the Director of A.R.G.U.S.”

Felicity analyzed him, “you work with Lyla Michaels?”

“She makes tough choices to keep the world safe, Felicity. There’s a lot of responsibility in that. A lot of pressure. And I might not agree with everything she does. Hell, not even her husband does. But I trust that she’s doing what she believes is right. And...” he let out a deep breath, “I trust her. And I think  _you_ trust  _me_. A.R.G.U.S is the only lead on Prometheus we have.”

She just stared up at him for a long moment. It was the most she’d heard him speak, and she’d come to expect short, clipped sentences to be the only thing she would get out of him. His eyes never left hers as she watched him, almost pleading. He was right, she did trust him. Implicitly. 

“Okay...” she nodded, “Let’s go see Director Michaels.”

* * *

 

Felicity couldn’t help but be impressed as she followed The Green Arrow through the halls of A.R.G.U.S. They had systems that she’d only heard whispers about, technology that wasn’t on the market yet, things that her own company was still trying to invent.

Impressed, but also jealous, Felicity grabbed her vigilante friend’s arm, watching one of the agents work. She leaned towards him, “When you were trying to convince me to come here, you should have lead with all of this,” she mumbled, gesturing around the room, the beautiful sounds of a room buzzing with unexplored tech. He glanced down at her, giving her a look. She shrugged, “Just so you know, all you had to say was Satellite Frequency Communicator T-X five zero, and I would have followed you anywhere.” She hesitated, her hand still on his arm as she met his gaze, realizing how the words sounded.

Felicity cleared her throat as his eyes softened, moving her hand off his arm and glancing away. She bent down to the agent that sat in his chair beside her, “Can I touch it?” The agent gave her a sided glance before turning back to his screen. She frowned, “I’ll take that as a  _no_.”

“Felicity...”

“What?” She asked, looking back up at The Green Arrow, “I’m just saying for future reference, the next time you want to get me on the back of your motorcycle...not that there’ll be a next time...or that you  _want_ me there-” he lifted his chin, and she snapped her lips shut.

She saw a hint of a smile in his eyes just before Lyla Michaels came into the room, garnering their attention. She was accompanied by a tall, dark man with biceps the size of Felicity’s head. She recognized Director Michaels from her research on A.R.G.U.S, but they’d never met face to face. 

Needing to ensure that when she made her move against Cayden, he’d be gone for good, she’d left a trail for Michaels to follow that led right to Helix and more specifically, right to Cayden. Lyla Michaels had taken her bait and been the answer to all of Felicity’s problems at the time...which meant she knew a lot about what the woman in front of her was capable of.

“Felicity Smoak,” Lyla clasped her hands in front of her, “we never got the chance to meet.”

“Not officially,” Felicity answered, her entire demeanor changing in the presence of Director Michaels, becoming stiff. “I imagine you know as much about me as I know about you, though... Thank you for taking care of Cayden James, by the way.” She hadn’t been planning on bringing any of that up, but Lyla’s energy just screamed that the woman felt superior, and Felicity’s quick temper got the better of her.

Director Michaels’ eyebrows furrowed, and she shook her head, “we caught Cayden James through his son.”

“Who do you think leaked his son’s name into your systems?” Felicity asked, stepping closer to Director Michaels as all eyes in the room fell on them. She cocked her head to the side, her hands shaking but she forced herself to keep her chin up. “Who do you think fed you all the information you needed to know?” she whispered, trying to stand tall, feeling The Green Arrow right behind her, hearing him inhale sharply. “Who do you think convinced Cayden to go to Owen’s basketball game that night?”

Lyla froze, staring at her with wide eyes. She glanced at the man beside her, who Felicity assumed was her husband and The Green Arrow’s partner. “Why would you do that?” Lyla asked, her voice rising, the question coming out sharp because this was clearly new information to her. Felicity noticed her green friend and his partner exchanging confused looks, and she got the very distinct impression that there wasn’t much that surprised Director Michaels.

Felicity sighed, glancing behind her at the masked vigilante who hovered protectively over her shoulder. “Because I’m not a bad person. And he was.”

Lyla raised her chin, “I know you aren’t, Miss Smoak. We knew about your affiliation with Helix. Why do  _you_ think  _I_ let you go? You’ve done a lot of good for this city with Smoak Technologies, I didn’t think you deserved the same fate as your...boss? Mentor? Overlord?”

Felicity raised her chin in challenge, opening her mouth to argue.

“Okay,” the man beside Director Michaels interrupted. “Now that we’ve established you’re both badass women who might have more in common than they think...” Director Michaels leveled him with a look, and he lifted his hands innocently. “Let’s just talk about Prometheus.” Then he offered a hand, and even a small smile, to Felicity. “I’m John Diggle.” He said as he shook her hand.

Lyla turned back to Felicity, getting back her composure. “Yes. Let’s talk about the photo that you stole from the United States government, Miss Smoak.”

The Green Arrow stepped forward, “Lyla...” he growled, “what do we know about Prometheus?”

“Next to nothing.” She replied instantly. “All we have is this masked photo...the one your friend  _stole_.” She highlighted, to which Felicity rolled her eyes. “We’ve been tracking him all across the country, but we only seem to know what he wants us to know,” she sighed, “we got this picture of him and it’s the only one we’ve seen, so we have to assume that he wanted us to have it. To know that he’s here.”

“Yeah,” Felicity scoffed, “that and the fact that he distorted the imagine before you got your hands on it...might also be a reason to  _assume_ he wanted you to have it.”

Director Michaels glanced at her in irritation, “yes,” the woman mumbled, “Miss Smoak’s work on the photo is the clearest we’ve seen it.”

Felicity smiled smugly, but John spoke up before she could gloat, “Why are you calling him Prometheus?”

Lyla sighed again, clearly annoyed at how little she truly knew about Prometheus, especially as the Director of a government sector that supposedly knew everything about everyone. “Before Felicity, he left witnesses in a Coast City massacre. He walked into a police precinct and took down thirteen cops, told the ones he left alive to call him Prometheus.”

“That wasn’t in the file,” Felicity pointed out, her eyebrows furrowing.

Lyla stared at her, “certain sensitive information is kept to paper files only. The deaths of half a police team classify as sensitive.”

Felicity snorted, “you mean  _covering up_ the deaths of half a police team classifies as sensitive.” Lyla’s eyes narrowed at her, visibly annoyed. The Green Arrow put a hand on Felicity’s shoulder, squeezing it gently in a reminder to stay focused. Felicity shrugged out of his grip. She’d warned him that she didn’t want to come here, and this was why. A.R.G.U.S was shady. Director Michaels’ sense of right and wrong was as misguided as Cayden James’. And she flat-out didn’t trust the woman.

“Coast City would be in chaos if they knew how easily Prometheus killed those officers.” Lyla offered.

“So you hid it?” John asked, his voice full of accusation.

“We don’t have time for this, Johnny.” She snapped, “Prometheus left Coast City. It was a message, he didn’t intend to hurt anyone else. Tracking him was more important than creating a national panic that we’d then have to calm.”

The vigilante leaned towards Lyla, his chest brushing against Felicity’s shoulder. “What else do you know about him?” He asked, his voice low and eerie thanks to his voice modulator.

Lyla looked at The Green Arrow sheepishly, a long, intense silence falling over the room. She inhaled, glancing up at the vigilante. “He trained with Talia al-Ghul,” she muttered under her breath.

“ _What_?” He snapped. Felicity’s eyes darted up to him, surprised by the anger seeping through his words, his body instantly tensing.

“We have video from the Coast City incident, his fighting technique is very specific...” Michaels trailed off.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me that, Lyla?” The Green Arrow demanded, his voice just below shouting.

“Who is Talia al-Ghul?” Felicity whispered, clocking the shift in the room from tense to insanely tense. It put her on edge to realize that The Green Arrow had convinced her to come here, saying that he trusted A.R.G.U.S and Director Michaels, and here he was, looking like he wanted to punch something because he’d clearly been lied to.

“She’s one of the people that taught The Green Arrow how to fight.” John Diggle was the one to answer her, meeting Felicity’s gaze. 

She stared back at him, since he was the one filling her in on what the hell was going on. “So Prometheus and...” she threw her hand back, letting her fingers land on The Green Arrow’s leather-clad chest, “had the same teacher?” she raised her eyebrows, looking for confirmation.

John nodded, “it appears that way.” He glanced down at his wife, “were you ever going to share this information with us?” He asked lowly, “if Felicity Smoak here hadn’t forced your hand?”

Lyla’s eyes flashed to Felicity and back to him, “honestly...no. Probably not, Johnny. We knew Prometheus was in Starling weeks ago, but we assumed he’d left...until Curtis Holt’s body was found.”

“You knew that Prometheus killed Curtis?” Felicity asked.

“Once you hacked our system and we traced it to the Prometheus file, Miss Smoak, the pieces were quite easy to put together.”

“Damn,” Felicity muttered, “I thought I made a clean break.”

“You did,” Lyla raised an eyebrow, “We knew about your hack, but I didn’t know who got the file. Then my husband called me a couple of hours ago asking about you and Helix, and it was pretty obvious.”

“Okay,” John raised his hands, “stop. Enough with your little rivalry,” he said to Lyla, “so Prometheus has a connection to... _The Green Arrow_ ,” he said carefully, stopping himself from using his name, “and you didn’t think that was important to tell us?”

“No,” his wife responded with an unapologetic shrug, “it’s classified information, that I do not owe to you...or your partner. I’m doing my job. And one of those things on a list of one hundred is to find Prometheus.”

“What is it?” The Green Arrow blurted. Felicity turned around to face him, and he glanced down at her, his hand pressed to his ear. “When?” he asked, his eyes still on hers as he listened to someone else. His gaze lifted to John and Lyla, a breath catching in his throat. “Black Canary says they just found Captain Lance dead...murdered.” he whispered, his face falling. 

Silence filled the room.

Felicity had met the Captain a handful of times, but she’d never talked to him more than she did last night. And that was a police interview...so it wasn’t exactly a bonding moment. But she could feel something change in her hooded friend. His eyes looked pained. The entire room was still. 

“It’s not your fault...” Felicity mumbled without thinking, her hand grasping his forearm and squeezing.

He glanced down at her, surprised for a moment before he regained his composure and stepped away, clearly uncomfortable with how well she’d understood what he was feeling...and yeah, it was probably a stupid thing to say. But she needed him to hear it. 

“Prometheus?” John asked from behind her. Felicity glanced over her shoulder at him, hearing that pain in his voice, too. The looks on their faces and the feeling in the room was more than just the loss of a police Captain. 

He’d been a friend to this team. An ally.

The Green Arrow shook his head, closing his eyes. “Throwing stars were found...” he choked, trying to get control over his emotions. He hesitated to listen, “Black Canary says the lab results from the previous victims just came back today. The throwing stars had traces of Void on them.” He took a deep breath, clearing his throat, “they believe Captain Lance was killed the same way.”

As John, Lyla and The Green Arrow discussed Void; a new drug in Starling that was being sold on the black market for it’s apparent use of paralyzing whoever ingested it, Felicity moved towards an open computer. She started typing, feeling a set of eyes on her back as his voice trailed off, his attention shifting to her. 

The Green Arrow silently came up behind her, and she instinctively leaned towards him when he bent over her shoulder, looking at her screen. Something inside of her wanted to touch him, to comfort him, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react to that. “The main ingredient in Void is a specific type of snake venom,” she murmured instead. 

“Right. A.R.G.U.S has done tests on Void, but we can’t figure out how it got into Starling.”

“Luckily there are only a few places in the world where the venom can be found.” Felicity continued to type, glancing up at The Green Arrow for a brief moment, long enough to see him nod. “Corto Maltese is one of those places, and unspecified shipments have been coming in for months.”

“Can you figure out who’s been handling those shipments?” John asked, coming up behind her other shoulder.

Felicity nodded, “it’ll take some time...but, yeah, I think I can.”

John released a surprised breath, clapping his hand over his green partner’s shoulder, “Well would you look at that...” he said in a strange tone. “Felicity Smoak might have just found The Throwing Star Killer.”

* * *

 

“I’m sorry about Captain Lance,” Felicity said as she climbed off the back of his bike, gripping the file from A.R.G.U.S on Void that Lyla Michaels had surprisingly asked her to take a look at.

“It’s okay. We’ll find The Throwing Star Killer, thanks to your help tonight...and we’ll find Prometheus. Captain Lance was my friend...but I won’t forget about yours.”

She nodded, biting her lip and glancing up at her windows. “You probably have a lot to do tonight...”

Felicity didn’t miss the shy smile that crossed his lips just before he looked down at his lap, his hands still gripping the bars of the motorcycle. “I’ll be here, Felicity. You’ll be safe.”

“Okay,” she breathed, feeling relieved. “You know...you can come upstairs instead of lurking in the shadows all night.”

The Green Arrow shook his head, pulling a cell phone out of a pocket on his chest, “I got this for you. There’s a number programmed into it that you can reach me at...if you need me.”

“Wow,” she smiled, “my own personal Green Arrow phone.” He nodded. Felicity cocked her head to the side, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome...” he sighed, lifting his hand and slowly grazing her cheek with his thumb. His touch was hesitant, and even through the glove, it sent electricity through her. Felicity leaned into his hand, stepping closer to him where he sat on his bike. He closed his eyes, “sleep well, Felicity. I’ll keep you safe.”

She wanted to ask him to come upstairs again, but she knew he’d decline. She couldn’t picture it anyway, the hooded vigilante trying to make himself comfortable in her space. So she watched as he drove off down the street, trusting that he meant what he said.

There was an unstoppable grin on Felicity’s face as she climbed the stairs up to her apartment, gripping the tiny black phone he’d given her in one fist and the Void file in the other.

As Felicity rounded the corner, she skidded to a stop, her eyes widening. “Adrian,” she yelped as her boyfriend stood up from where he’d been sitting outside her door. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on you. Where have you been?”

“Nowhere,” she breathed, trying to relax, “out.” She really wasn’t prepared to lie, and her mind was empty of excuses.

Adrian brought his hand to his face, pressing his fingers against his forehead as he squeezed his eyes shut. “You really shouldn’t be leaving your apartment, Felicity, whoever killed Curtis could still be out there.”

“I know,” she whispered, watching him, seeing the tension on his face and in his shoulders. He’d been worried. “I was safe.”

“How do you know? Felicity...” he let out a sharp breath, clearly upset and trying not to show it. Guilt hit her. She knew they’d only been dating for a few months, but she could see the irritation all over him, and she felt bad that he’d been worried, and that she’d barely bothered to text him since Curtis’ murder.

“I’m sorry,” she offered a small smile, walking up to him and taking his hand, she squeezed his fingers. “Come on inside.”

Thoughts circled her mind in such an overwhelming way. Spending four months with Adrian had seemed easy most of the time. Things were never serious. If they started to get too heavy, one of them would pull, the other would push, they’d take a few days apart, and then everything would go back to normal.

It was casual. Fun. He made her feel good, she trusted him, and they were enjoying each other’s company. She wouldn’t say she was emotionally invested, she hadn’t exactly allowed herself to open up completely to  _any_ man in a long time, but Adrian was a constant in her life. 

He was probably the first thing in her life that she didn’t over analyze. That she didn’t stress about. She could go with the flow when it came to him. They enjoyed each other, but if she canceled plans or had a long day and didn’t want to see him, he never seemed to mind. It was the reason she’d had no problem defining it as a relationship. Because it was easy, so why not? She wasn’t interested in anyone else, so she didn’t see a problem with being exclusive. 

But after being thrown into a murder investigation and spending the last couple of days absorbed in finding Curtis’ killer, after jumping back into her history with A.R.G.U.S and Helix, and most importantly, after feeling the way her green hooded friend could make her heart race...it was safe to say Adrian had been put on the back burner in her mind.

And she felt guilty. He obviously cared about her and didn’t want to see her hurt, and she’d pretty much avoided him since Curtis died.

Leading Adrian into the kitchen, Felicity opened a random drawer and shoved the folder and phone inside before taking her coat off and tossing it onto one of the stools. She turned to smile at him. “Tea?” She asked, scrunching her nose. Adrian shook his head as he usually did, looking tense. 

Felicity sighed, knowing that this conversation probably should have happened last night. “I’m okay,” she said, offering a small smile as she filled her tea kettle with water. He just nodded, his eyes on her. She raised an eyebrow, turning away from him, sensing that he had things to say and hoping that it wasn’t going to lead to an argument. They had a tendency to bicker whenever conversations got deeper than they were comfortable with.

She focused on fixing her tea, getting her favorite mug, the sugar and honey, before turning back to him. “Listen...” she started, trying to prepare herself for the conversation of “maybe we’re not in a strong enough place to handle all of this as a couple” but her eyes widened as she saw Adrian holding the file The Green Arrow had given her. “What the hell are you doing!?” She snapped, anger flashing through her because he’d just taken it out of the drawer while her back was turned.

“Why do you have a government file on Void?” He asked, pulling the folder away, out of her reach, when she tried to take it back. Glaring at him, Felicity held her hand out, waiting. He rolled his eyes and gave it to her. “I’m the DA Felicity, so I know that Void is in Starling, and I know the newly found significance of it. So think how strange it must be to find out that my girlfriend has a file on the very drug that was just tied to The Throwing Star Killer. What is this about?” His voice was full of tension, his tone demanding, making her shoulders straighten defensively.

Felicity put the file aside. “It’s none of your business,” she mumbled.

“Of course it’s my business!” He yelled unexpectedly, and she flinched. “I’m the District Attorney!” His eyes flashed with an intense anger that had her instinctively stepping back. “God, Felicity, stay away from this case! I didn’t think you were this stupid!” 

She’d never really known him to lose his temper, and it was jarring. There were a couple of times she’d heard him yelling on the phone about a case, but it was much more intense when that anger was directed  _at_ her. It was also insulting... Still, her gut told her not to snap back at him. The tension rolling off of him sent a shiver down her spine, but she lifted her chin defiantly anyway. 

Adrian let a few tense moments go by, his breath coming out in short pants, and he closed his eyes. Felicity kept hers wide open, seeing him in a different light. She could physically see him trying to calm down, and the kettle began to whistle as she stared at him. Quickly reaching for it, she pulled it off the burner and set it aside, turning the stove off.

“I’m sorry,” he finally muttered. “You’ve barely been answering my texts, and I’ve been getting worried, Felicity.” She had no idea what to make of him. “I’m just...I’m trying to understand. The Throwing Star Killer is dangerous...and I don’t want you to be the next one who ends up dead.” When she didn’t answer, he sighed, rubbing his palm across his forehead, “is this about Curtis?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, realizing that she had to say something as he shifted, his eyes narrowing at her.

“We don’t know anything about his death yet. But I was going to tell you...I came over here to tell you, actually...that as soon as we do, I’ll let you know. He was your friend, Felicity, and I know that this is bothering you. So, I’ll share the details of the case with you.”

She stared at him, because not only could that get him fired, but it was illegal. “Why would you do that?” She asked.

“I care about you,” he said with a slight shrug. “Is that enough?” He whispered, “will you stop digging into this if I promise to keep you updated?”

Felicity just nodded, and he finally relaxed, his shoulders slumping as he crossed the space to wrap his arms around her. Felicity hugged him back hesitantly, glancing over his shoulders towards her windows.

She had no idea what made her look over there, or why she was somehow expecting to see The Green Arrow standing there. But of course she couldn’t see him. She had no doubt he was out there though. Something about the wave of comfort that washed over her told her that he was. “You should go,” she mumbled as Adrian pulled back. “I’m tired and I’d just like to get to bed.”

Adrian pursed his lips before nodding slowly, knowing better than to argue. “Okay, I’m sorry, Felicity. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

As soon as the front door closed behind him, Felicity walked straight to the balcony and stepped onto it. She squinted, staring across the street at the roofs. His dark green leathers would make him impossible to see, but he’d promised he wouldn’t be far. She stepped up to the railing, peering down over it, looking at the spot he’d parked in when he’d dropped her off. Of course his bike was gone now. 

Just as she was considering using that phone he’d given her, needing to actually  _see_ him and know where he was, she heard the soft sound of his feet landing behind her. Felicity spun around, gasping as she faced his hesitant eyes. On edge from Adrian’s visit on top of everything else, she was startled even though she’d expected The Green Arrow to be there. 

Felicity sighed at the look on his face. “I’m assuming you heard that.” He nodded. “Will you come inside?” Another nod. Felicity nodded back, slightly surprised but relieved that he’d agreed. 

She didn’t bother asking if he wanted a cup of tea as he followed her inside, closing the door behind him. She poured him one, her favorite, and brought it over to the couch, setting both mugs on the coffee table.

When The Green Arrow sat down next to her and picked up his cup, she couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from her lips. Because it was  _funny_. The masked vigilante was sitting in her living room sipping tea out of a blue mug with daisies painted on it. He glanced at her, his eyes flashing with confusion, and Felicity raised an eyebrow. He let out a soft laugh, too, realizing why she was amused. 

As their laughter faded, his eyes softened. And it wasn’t lost on her how comfortable she felt under his gaze...especially compared to the conversation she’d just had with her boyfriend. “Are you okay?” the vigilante whispered.

Felicity bit her lip, nodding. She didn’t feel like she owed him an explanation, or that he was asking for one, but she wanted to talk. 

She wanted to talk to  _him_.

“Adrian...hardly ever loses his temper,” she started, looking down at her mug, “I’ve only seen it once or twice, and it was just about work.” She squinted at her cup, piecing her own thoughts together, trying to explain it to herself as much as she was to the vigilante sitting beside her. “He’s always so controlled. Put together. I think that’s why it was so surprising. Nothing ever gets to him, and I saw that as maturity. That nothing really bothers him, you know?” She asked, glancing up at her guest. He nodded once, letting her know he was listening.

Felicity sighed, running her thumb over the lip of her mug, “I  _liked_ that he’s unemotional. We don’t talk about anything that meaningful,” she shrugged, “we both like it that way. It’s simple. I don’t have to worry about hurting his feelings or saying the wrong thing.”

“That sounds...like walking on eggshells.” He answered lowly.

And Felicity cocked her head to the side, laughing once. “I guess I’ve never thought of it like that.” She whispered, because truthfully it had seemed easier not to build a deep connection. Now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe she had been walking on eggshells, carefully avoiding anything too real. 

Her eyes met his, and she saw something so broken, so desperate in his gaze that it made her breath catch in her throat. He looked  _torn_. 

The Green Arrow was opening his mouth to say something just as her phone started to beep, the alert she’d set up at A.R.G.U.S going off. “That’s a hit on Void,” she mumbled, looking over the couch and into the kitchen area where she’d left her phone on the counter.

Without a word, he stood up and retrieved it, bringing it back to her. “Thank you,” she mumbled, looking down at the screen. “Wait,” she shook her head as he sat down next to her again, a little closer this time, she couldn’t help but note in the back of her mind. Her hand landed on his forearm. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“What is it?” He asked, turning his hand over and sliding his hand into hers.

“The Void...it’s been getting delivered to the SCPD precinct.”

He froze, “an officer has been buying Void?”

Felicity’s eyebrows furrowed, “not an officer. A detective.” She spun her phone around, showing him the information she’d received. The shipments were being delivered to the precinct, but she also had the name of the detective paying for them.

“Who is Billy Malone?” She asked.

_Five years ago:_

_Felicity woke up with a sharp gasp, her eyes glancing around the hospital room. “Oliver!” She yelled, flashes of the fiery explosion invading her mind._

_He’d been standing at the window, but he dropped to her bed as soon as she woke up. His hands found hers, “I’m here,” he sighed, sounding relieved. “I’m right here.”_

_She relaxed, squeezing his fingers and closing her eyes. “Are you okay?” She asked, flinching as her brain caught up to her injuries._

_“I’m fine, just a few bumps and bruises,” he said. Felicity nodded, glancing down at her own body. It was covered in bandages, her arm in a cast. And she could feel all of it, every deep gash and tiny scratch.  
_

_“Oh my god,” she breathed.  
_

_“You’re okay,” he nodded, convincing both of them as he gently brought his forehead to hers. “You’re going to be okay.”  
_

_Felicity felt tears springing to her eyes, and it had nothing to do with her wounds. She_ knew _._

_“I called your mom,” Oliver whispered, his lips just barely grazing her temple. “She’ll be here any minute.”  
_

_“You’re leaving?”  
_

_He tensed at the question, surprised, but she was putting the pieces together. Oliver sighed, giving in to just one kiss on her forehead. “Yes,” he choked out, “Felicity...the five years I was away...they changed me. They broke me. And I thought that I could come back here and have something normal. I thought that I could have_ you _...but that was a foolish dream.”_

_“You didn’t blow up the restaurant, Oliver,” she forced a smile as he pulled back to look down at her. It was pointless to argue, she knew...once he had his mind set on something...“Besides, it’s not the worst first date I’ve ever been on.”  
_

_Oliver laughed, but it sounded forced and sad. He shook his head slightly, “It’s not...it’s not safe to be around me, Felicity. The people I love...they always seem to get hurt.” He looked up to meet her eyes. “And I can’t let that be you. I won’t let that be you.”_

_Felicity felt something heavy on her chest at his words, twisting her heart uncomfortably. She realized what he was trying to say. What he already knew._

_It was over before it even began._


	3. Implicit Demand for Proof

_Adrian Chase found his way to Nanda Parbat out of pure tenacity, his hatred being the driving force. He was taken by nameless men in cloaks before he even stepped through the doors, but they took him exactly where he wanted to go._

_Facing Ra’s al Ghul, Adrian dropped to his knees, staring up at the man._

_Ra’s put his hands behind his back. “What brings you here, lone traveler?”_

_“I want to learn from the man who trained my father how to fight.”  
_

_Ra’s cocked his head to the side, circling Adrian while his men held their swords ready. It wasn’t every day that someone stumbled upon their home, and they knew better than to let their guards down, even for a man alone, unarmed, and on his knees. “Your father?”_

_“The Magician.”  
_

_Adrian held his breath as The Demon Head’s footsteps froze. “You are the son of Malcolm Merlyn?”  
_

_“Yes.”  
_

_He circled Chase again, stopping in front of him and lifting his hand, gesturing for Adrian to stand up. Then Ra’s took a sword from one of his followers and handed it to Adrian._

_Waving his hand, Ra’s smirked, “try to kill me, son of The Magician.”_

_Adrian didn’t hesitate, taking the invitation with pent up rage, he charged. Swinging the sword at his opponent’s throat, he cried out, stumbling when Ra’s sidestepped him. The man kept his hands behind his back, unarmed and unconcerned as he dodged Chase’s attempts. It was as if the whole thing was a choreographed dance, and Ra’s moved around him with ease._

_Chase came at him again and again, using all of his rage until he was completely gassed out, breathing heavily and glaring the man he was trying to kill, who seemed just as relaxed as he had when Adrian first laid eyes on him. “Your anger is your weakness, son of The Magician. You have far too much of it.”_

_Surprisingly, the comment reignited Chase’s anger, and he lunged at Ra’s one more time. The older man didn’t flinch, avoiding the attack and grabbing the blade of the sword in his fist. Chase’s eyes widened as blood dripped from The Demon Head’s palm, trying to pull it back._

_Without warning, Ra’s ducked his head, ramming is forehead against Adrian’s and making him stumble back. Chase released the sword as his vision got darker, disoriented. And Ra’s flipped the weapon so that the handle was controlled in his bloody fist. He pointed the tip of the sword into Adrian’s neck, waiting until the man was right enough to meet his gaze._

_Once he did, Ra’s shook his head. “You have far too much anger,” he repeated slowly. “I cannot train you.”_

_“No,” Chase gasped, “please,” he begged, “I need to…there is someone I have to kill!”  
_

_Ra’s al Ghul cocked his head to the side, “revenge is never a sufficient motivation, son of The Magician. It is like fire, flashing hot and wild. You cannot control it, and you will be the one who burns because of it.”_

_“So teach me how to control it.” Adrian seethed.  
_

_Ra’s narrowed his eyes, “I will not. The League of Assassins does not entertain personal vendettas. You’ve made a mistake coming here. I will let you live, but I will not let you stay.”_

_The leader of The League had no idea how consequential the denial was. Adrian had been discarded by his own father, the result of an adulterous affair, abandoned and denied his entire life._

_Until he’d finally found everything he’d ever wanted. And Oliver Queen had taken it from him. His rage was the only thing he had left, and the rejection from The Demon’s Head stung almost as harshly as the shame from Malcolm Merlyn._

_Talia al Ghul heard about her father’s assessment of Adrian Chase. She’d taken a particular interest in the man that Ra’s deemed too angry, too unhinged to teach, and she viewed it as a challenge. So she reached out, offered her services. And if he couldn’t be trained by Ra’s himself, Adrian knew that his daughter was the next best thing._

_Talia had not only taught him how to fight, but how to control. Their similar history of having fathers who denied them was his true saving grace, though. When he’d first met Talia, his anger had been manic. Talia was the one who taught him the importance of patience. The one who had helped him value strategy._

_When Oliver killed Ra’s al Ghul, his mission suddenly became their mission. She was no longer his mentor, but his partner._

_Still, it was his fight. And after another two years of planning, he’d finally felt ready to execute his mission._

_Everything started with Felicity Smoak._

_It all started with her, just as it would all end with her._

_It’d only taken him one night of observing his enemy to know that he was in love with the woman. Adrian followed Oliver to a benefit dinner, and even though his enemy’s date had been a reporter named Susan Williams, Oliver was unable to take his eyes off of Miss Smoak all night. Chase knew their history, the explosive dinner that Oliver still felt guilty over. He planned on using Felicity Smoak in some way, to get under Oliver’s skin, but he was surprised to realize that Oliver still cared for her so clearly, so deeply, even five years later. He set his sights on Felicity, digging in for the long haul of staging a meeting, convincing her to go out with him, and beginning a relationship with her._

_He’d adjusted his revenge around Felicity Smoak…because she was the key to taking down Oliver Queen._

Splashing cold water onto his face, Adrian thought about what to do with Felicity.

He hadn’t planned on her. Not from the beginning, at least, so it made everything less stable than he was comfortable with. It made him uneasy that she had the ability to ruin everything he had in store for Oliver.

He also hadn’t planned on her being charming. Part of him, the splinter of sanity that allowed him to put on this charade, fell for her. But only the splinter. She was kind and beautiful and he felt like if his life had taken a different path, he might have been able to be normal. In that imaginary life, he could see himself with Felicity.

But he wasn’t in that life…and she didn’t change anything.

He was fond of her, yes…and he had to admit that to himself head-on, so that his plans wouldn’t be derailed by an unexpected moment of weakness. Knowing himself, being comfortable with his thoughts, was a skill that Talia had taught him. An important one. It was something he had that Oliver Queen didn’t. Oliver denied his emotions. He pushed them down, leaving him vulnerable and unprepared.

Adrian was banking on that.

The other thing he hadn’t planned on though, was Felicity being so damn smart. He knew that killing Curtis Holt was necessary to his plan. Curtis’ death was his “Felicity trigger” and Felicity was his “Oliver trigger”.

Both of those triggers had been pulled. He just hadn’t expected her to work so fast. She’d found the photo he’d planted for A.R.G.U.S in a matter of hours, and by the next day, she was onto the Void.

He shook his head, dragging a towel over his face as he continued to watch himself in the mirror of his staged District Attorney’s apartment. Nothing in the place even belonged to him, it was all set up to give the appearance of normalcy, mostly to trick Felicity when she visited his apartment.

Once he finished getting ready, Adrian left for his meeting with the mayor. Starling City was in turmoil with all of these murders. The poor people of Starling were scared. And they had every right to be. The DA and the mayor needed to find a solution.

His phone gave him an alert from the morgue as he drove through the city, and he read it as he walked through city hall.

“Mr. Queen,” Chase greeted the mayor as he entered his office. “It’s nice to see you again…on better circumstances.”

Oliver forced a smile, standing up from behind his desk and offering his hand. “How are you, Mr. Chase?”

“I’m well. I just got Curtis Holt’s autopsy report back, it seems like we have a lot to talk about.”

Oliver nodded towards his computer, “I was just looking it over myself. Please, have a seat. Uh…” he sat in his own chair, flattening his palms against his desk. “How is Felicity Smoak doing?” He asked innocently.

Adrian watched him for a moment, only mildly surprised at the obvious question. “She’s okay,” he shrugged, “frustrated. We both are. But we’ll be fine.”

Oliver pursed his lips, and Adrian narrowed his eyes, reading the man like the book he’d been studying for five years. He’d been there last night, Adrian realized. He’d heard the fight with Felicity. “I didn’t realize you had a history with my girlfriend, Mr. Mayor,” he said cautiously, just wanting to see Oliver squirm.

Which he did. Oliver’s mouth opened and closed, his hands clenching into fists. “It’s not much of a history. It was just one date.”

“A date that blew up…Felicity’s told me about it.” Oliver didn’t need to know that the explosion was virtually the only thing Felicity had mentioned. And all she’d done was tell him that it happened. She’d mentioned it once, when he asked about one of her scars. It was clear to Adrian that his girlfriend still had some unresolved feelings for Oliver, too.

Chase twisted his expression into sympathy and sadness, meeting Oliver’s eyes. “That was a really hard time for her. She doesn’t really like to talk about it, but I know how much it hurt her,” he mumbled. Even if Felicity had never shared her feelings on the subject, Oliver didn’t have to know that. His words had their desired effect.

Oliver’s face crumbled for a split second, guilt shadowing his features. He cleared his throat, “I’m sure it was.”

Adrian took a deep breath, “well, we should get on with this meeting, huh?” He got a nod in response as Oliver looked down at the documents on his desk. When Oliver glanced away, Chase smirked at the lost puppy expression on the man’s face.

It was so easy to get under his skin.

* * *

“Oliver,” Adrian said cautiously, pointing his hand at him. The DA was trying to make him understand, but Oliver was stubborn. “We already have a police captain dead at the hands of The Throwing Star Killer. Imagine how much fear that’s going to cause once we make that announcement.” He hesitated, and Oliver pinched his lips together…he  _could_ imagine it. And it was not going to be good.

The Throwing Star Killer was scary enough. Add in the information that he paralyzes his victims before killing them…and he’s terrifying. But then add in the fact that he’d murdered the number one person that was meant to keep the city safe…and he could imagine a city-wide panic.

“Curtis’ wounds weren’t consistent with The Throwing Star Killer.” Oliver said carefully, “there’s another killer in our city, and I think the public needs to know.” He knew that Lance’s death and having The Throwing Star Killer still on the loose was going to be a media frenzy mess. They didn’t even have a lead. It was going to be a lot of work to get a handle on  _that_ problem. But he still thought that it was essential for Starling to know there were two killers on the loose.

Adrian held up his hands, “I’m not arguing with that. I’m just saying that we need to at least have a plan. Without Captain Lance around to handle this, we need  _something_ that will make these people feel  _safe_ , Oliver. We can’t just drop all this terrifying information on them without offering any kind of solution or hope.”

Oliver sighed, pressing his fingers to his temples because his District Attorney was right. But he also knew that Prometheus was a huge danger in this city, and people needed to know. They needed to be prepared. “So what do we do?”

“We announce Captain Lance’s death, wait a day or two until we can come up with more about Holt’s murderer, and then we tackle that problem head on. Just not all at once, that’s all I’m saying.”

Oliver nodded slowly, “all right. Well, I’ll set up a press conference for tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll be there,” Adrian smiled, standing up. Oliver followed, shaking his hand. “Bright and early. See you then.”

“Adrian,” Oliver stopped him. “Thank you,” he said with a nod. “For your help with all of this.”

As Oliver walked Adrian out of his office, he noticed Felicity standing at his secretary’s desk. Her fingers were clutching her hair, “I  _know_ he’s in a meeting,” she grumbled, sounding like she’d said it a million times already, “I’m saying I will  _wait_ -” her sentence was cut off as she noticed the men coming out of his office.

Oliver’s eyes darted between Felicity and Adrian. He knew about their fight, the way Adrian had yelled at her in her apartment last night…and Felicity knew so much about the murder cases going on…but she didn’t know that  _he_ knew about her involvement. The Green Arrow knew. But mayor Queen was not in the loop. Not in Felicity’s orbit and…yeah, it was confusing. He was having a hard time keeping track of it all.

He was also surprised to see her, unprepared to face him without a mask on, which led him to gape at her like a fish.

“Felicity?” Adrian asked as he walked towards her, slipping a hand over her hip and kissing her cheek. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh,” Felicity’s eyes widened, her back tensing under her boyfriend’s touch. “I…I-uh- I just needed to talk to Oliver…”

“About what?” Chase asked, his eyebrows furrowing. Felicity stared at him like a deer in headlights.

“My security system,” Oliver lied quickly, taking a deep breath to calm down enough to lie with ease. “It’s not the best, and Felicity’s the best I know, so…I asked her to check it out.”

She met his gaze, nodding, “Yeah, I got an email this morning, asking me to come by” she lied with him, rolling her eyes, “can’t ignore the mayor, you know?”

Adrian just nodded, “Okay. Well, can I call you tonight?” His voice dropped slightly, “I’m sorry about last night.”

Felicity nodded, smiling. “Y-yeah. Uh, sure. I’ll be home around nine?”

“Nine,” Chase agreed with a smile, kissing her cheek again before he headed for the elevators. 

Oliver watched Felicity as she watched Adrian. He saw her take a deep breath in, releasing it slowly. When she turned back to him, he raised his eyebrows, opening his door and gesturing her in.

Felicity walked by him, her heels clicking. She waltzed into his office, tossing her purse onto one of the chairs and crossing her arms as he shut the door. “You didn’t have to lie for me.”

“You seemed like you were looking for an excuse.”

She frowned, “I don’t need you to be an accomplice while I lie to my boyfriend.” Felicity cringed. “Just…don’t worry about it.”

He nodded, shrugging with feigned indifference as he brushed by her, making his way to his desk. “Fine. So what really brings you by, Miss Smoak?” He asked, his voice thick with sarcastic formality.

Oliver bit his lip when he saw her face flash with irritation at his tone. “Um,” she reached into her bag and pulled out a manila folder, handing it to him. He stared down at it blankly, his entire body freezing. “I didn’t really know who else to tell, but it looks like a detective at the SCPD has a connection to Void.”

He pretended to read the words in front of him, even though he was already very familiar with the information Felicity had on Void and Billy Malone. “Where did you get this?” He asked, knowing the answer but also knowing he had to play along.

“A friend,” she replied instantly, her eyes narrowing.

Oliver pinched his lips together, setting the file on his desk. “And why didn’t you take it to the police?” He asked the next appropriate question.

Felicity crossed her arms, “with all due respect, Mayor Queen, if there’s one dirty cop in that precinct…”

“You think there could be more.”

She nodded.

Oliver cleared his throat, “so, what should we do about it?”

“We?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He nodded slowly, meeting her gaze. “You’re clearly involved already, you might as well help me come up with a plan to stop it.”

Oliver stared at her, and she stared back. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to work with her as the mayor, too… At least then, she could actually see his face. She could start to trust him again as  _him_ , instead of a faceless vigilante who hid in the shadows outside her apartment. He wanted  _this_ …he wanted her to trust Oliver Queen as much as she seemed to trust The Green Arrow.

Felicity sighed, sitting down cautiously in one of the seats across from his desk, looking at him with the same wariness in her eyes that she’d had in the hospital five years ago. “You know…” she gripped her fingers together, “I used to do some pretty strange things for you back in the day, but after…well, I wasn’t sure you’d want me to help with this.” She kept her eyes on him, analyzing.

Tapping his fingers across his desk, he shook his head. “Maybe I made a mistake.” He mumbled, more to himself than to her, but her eyes widened. He stared back at her, reading her surprise. He’d hardly been able to admit to  _himself_ that he regretted pushing Felicity away, and here he was, putting it out there, right on the line for her…

He cleared his throat, “So, how do we figure out the connection between Malone and Void?” He’d asked her the same question last night, from under the hood, but they hadn’t been able to come up with much. They knew Billy Malone was buying and shipping Void from Corto Maltese to Starling, but they couldn’t pin the murders on him yet.

“I was thinking, after my friend left last night…” Felicity said, chewing on her lip as she leaned towards him, “there’s an award ceremony for the detectives tonight. Maybe we should go and have a chat with Malone.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow, leaning towards her, too. Even if the desk was unnecessarily wide, their hushed voices and eye contact made the moment feel intimate to him. “You want to confront him?”

Felicity shrugged, “I think we should at least try to feel the guy out, decide if he seems more drug dealer-y or serial killer-y. That’s kind of a big distinction, right? It couldn’t hurt to spend a little time with him…” Oliver’s eyes narrowed, and she straightened her shoulders, “in a safe…very public place.”

He sighed, “you’re presenting one of the awards, right?” He asked, knowing she would go. “To Detective Dinah Drake?” She didn’t have to, people would understand if she missed the event, after what happened to Curtis. But the woman was persistent…so he knew she’d be there.

Felicity perked up, a slight smile pulling at her lips as if she was pleased with him for knowing about it. “I am. Detective Drake spearheaded the cyber crimes tactical courses that I arranged for the SCPD, so they asked me to present her with the award. She seems nice. I mean, the only time I met her was the other night, and that was…not a pleasant introduction, but…she seems nice,” Felicity sighed.

He couldn’t help the pride that lit his face as he looked over his desk at her. She was proud of herself, too, and it was incredible…always incredible to watch her shine in the light that she not only deserved, but that she created for herself and everyone whose life she touched. She’d done a lot with her business, but she’d also been a vital resource for the SCPD over the past couple of years, helping them to improve their systems and technology as well as their efficiency.

If the smile on her face was any indication, she noticed the way he was staring at her. And maybe she liked it. Oliver cleared his throat, “right,” he agreed. “Well, I’ll be going, to give a speech honoring Captain Lance. So…”

“So, I’ll see you there, then.” She bit her lip, reaching for her bag. It was clear to him that she was still a little uncomfortable around him, which he understood, but part of him felt hopeful that she would start to trust him again. The other side of him was nervous. If Detective Malone was The Throwing Star Killer, then their plan was to what…put Felicity on his radar just so they could get a read on him?

“Felicity…” he began carefully when his brain caught up, realizing she was leaving. He gripped his desk as she stood up. He really didn’t want to piss her off or push her away. Not anymore. Oliver wanted her to feel as safe and as comfortable with him when he wasn’t wearing his mask as she seemed to be when he was wearing it. He  _needed_ her to be. And that started with getting her to open up to him again, to talk to the real him the way she’d talked to The Green Arrow last night.

“I know I probably don’t have a right to ask, but…”

Her shoulders tensed as she looked down at him. But she cocked her head to the side, waiting. So he took a deep breath, “are you happy? With him…” he trailed off, gesturing to the door where they’d been talking to Adrian a few minutes before.

She pursed her lips, squinting her eyes at him for a moment before letting out a deep breath. “I thought I was,” she mumbled, shrugging. “Now I’m not so sure.”

The way she looked at him made his heart stall. It was the most direct, open look in her eyes that he’d seen in years. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, and this was so not the right time to hope…it was the complete  _opposite_ of the right time. But his mind immediately wondered what she was thinking about, if she would even  _consider_ a second chance with him.

Felicity smiled at him gently, waving her hand as she headed out, “I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you tonight…” he mumbled after her.

* * *

The awards were already being presented by the time Felicity arrived. She rushed through the door of the country club where the ceremony was, as fast as she could with her heels, keeping her eyes on her feet to avoid tripping and causing more of a delay. 

As she came through the entrance, she immediately bumped into a large chest. Oliver’s arms steadied her, and she looked up at him with mild annoyance. “You’re late,” he mumbled, stepping back but putting his hand on her elbow, guiding her through the lounge areas and to the doors of the ballroom. 

Felicity fidgeted, not wanting to explain herself, because that would mean a long and embarrassing story about how she couldn’t decide what to wear. She’d never had a problem with it. She owned enough dresses that she usually just grabbed one, accessorized, and headed out. And she didn’t want to admit to him that it had taken her so long to pick something out because she knew she’d be spending most of the night with him…and she wanted to look damn good.

He paused in front of the door, turning to her, pinning her with a meaningful stare. “My speech is in ten minutes.”

“Oh,” she released a breath, surprised because his words were casual but his expression was saying something else. He was uneasy. Worried?

She was here and she had time before she had to present Detective Drake with her award, so she tried to relax. “You didn’t have to wait out there for me.”

Oliver’s eyes drifted to her lips as she spoke, and he licked his own, his eyebrows furrowing. He looked at her like she was a puzzle. A confusing one…but one that he wanted to understand. And damn it if that didn’t do some serious things to her heart. “Detective Malone is at table five,” he mumbled, his eyes flickering back to hers, “my friends made sure you were seated next to him.”

“Where will you be?” She asked breathlessly.

He smiled softly at her, his hand squeezing her arm where he still held it. “I’ll be right on the other side of you. My seat’s next to yours.”

“Oh,” she sighed in relief, “okay.”

He gave her strange look, probably wondering why that brought her so much comfort. She’d been icy towards him for years. But things were changing…Curtis and Captain Lance were dead, and…things were different now. 

“You ready?” He asked gently, and she knew that she could say no. That if she did, everything would be scrapped and they’d find another way to get close to Malone. She knew that all she had to do was say the word, and he’d call this whole plan off.

Felicity nodded, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin.

Oliver glanced down at his hand on her elbow first, his fingers loosening, brushing down her arm as he released her. And then his eyes roamed over her dress in a way that made her glad she was late. She’d picked the right dress, if his darkening eyes were any proof of that.

Time slowed down a bit as he appreciated her, his guard down, letting her see the reaction on his face. His eyes darkening and his tongue slipping out to lick his lips. She held her breath, feeling her heart flutter as she stared up at him. His gaze landed on her chest, on the deep V-cut that plunged between her breasts. And they stopped there, his whole body freezing as his eyes narrowed. The curves of her breasts were visible, one of the main reasons she’d picked the dress in the first place, but she knew exactly what he was noticing.

Felicity thought she’d covered it up with make-up. The scar on her chest was barely evident in the first place. Add a little concealer, and it was practically invisible. Of course he’d detected it, though. It was the result of one of her more serious injuries in the explosion from their date. And by the way his face changed, his eyes darkening with guilt rather than lust, his shoulders tensing, he knew how she’d gotten it.

Glancing away, Oliver cleared his throat. “We should get in there.”

Felicity nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear and looking down at her feet. She didn’t know what else to say. He blamed himself, but she had hoped that five years would have at least lessened the guilt. 

He looked just as defeated as he had in the hospital all those years ago. 

Clearly time had done nothing to ease his self-imposed burden, and that made her uneasy. How could they work together…do  _anything_ together…if he still felt guilty? If he felt like he owed her something? It wouldn’t work. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t pick up where they’d left off in that hospital room. It  _had_ to be different.  _He_ had to be different.

Not looking at him, her eyes still on her feet, Felicity reached for the door. He had to be on stage any minute, so they really didn’t have time for that whole conversation anyway, even if he was willing to have it. Still, he stopped her with his hand on her elbow again, a soft “hey,” right outside her ear.

She tilted her head back, meaning to look at him, but her eyes lulled closed as she felt his chest just behind her, not touching her, but so  _close_. She breathed him in for a moment, resisting the urge to lean back into him.

Felicity let his hand on her arm steady her for a moment, and Oliver waited until her eyes opened again. Twisting to meet his gaze, he gave her a gentle, reassuring smile, “you look beautiful,” he told her. His voice was soft and smooth, all the comfort she’d ever wanted from him in one simple, honest compliment. 

Everything about the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice made her believe it. She nodded once, her head fogging with confusion. She didn’t know how to feel about him, or how to act around him, or what he was thinking. So she just smiled back and whispered “thank you.”

They made their way inside, and Oliver led her to the table, throwing subtle glances at Billy Malone as he pulled her chair out for her. She took a deep breath, glancing at the detective and putting on her best smile. Oliver pushed her chair in, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “I have to get up there. Are you okay here?”

Felicity nodded, looking up at him. He hesitated for a moment, trying to read her face. He could probably see the nerves written all over her expression, but he nodded back, his hand finding her shoulder and squeezing it for a brief moment before he headed for the stage. 

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Felicity watched him walk away, and then she offered polite smiles to the other guests sitting at her table. Not wanting to make things too obvious, she waited another moment, taking a sip of her water and scoping out the room, before she leaned towards Malone. “Hi,” she started, dropping her voice, “I don’t think we’ve ever met.”

He raised his eyebrows, as if he was surprised she was even taking the time to speak to him. “No, we haven’t. I’m Billy Malone. I’m a detective for the SCPD.” He offered his hand, and she shook it with a smile.

“Felicity Smoak. I own Smoak Technologies.”

He laughed, nodding as he dropped her hand. “I know who you are. I think everyone at the precinct knows who you are. I’m actually pretty sure that some of the cops have been fighting to have your picture put up on the wall in the bullpen.”

She laughed once, surprised, raising her eyebrows at him. “You’re kidding.”

“No,” he smiled, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave you an honorary badge.” She laughed again, and he shook his head, “sorry, I don’t mean to sound weird. You just…there’s a lot of respect for you in that building, and as far as I can tell it’s very well deserved.”

Felicity hesitated, smiling at the compliment. The guy didn’t really scream “serial killer” to her. He didn’t even seem like a drug dealer. He actually struck her as extremely normal. “Well, thank you,” she offered, “I’ve loved being able to help. It’s…given my life a lot of purpose,” Felicity nodded, “knowing that my work has benefited the city.”

“It has,” Detective Malone replied, giving her a nice, genuine smile. She sighed, forcing a smile back. Glancing away, she tried to find Oliver, but he must have been behind the curtain, getting ready to give his speech. 

She could be wrong, that was definitely a possibility, but she didn’t get the feeling that Detective Malone was crooked. Still, she knew she had to at least  _try_. Leaning closer, Felicity met his gaze, “listen…” she breathed, “I know it’s not exactly conventional, but, if you guys need anything… I hate that my city is hurting, and I’ve already lost one friend because of a psychopath. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

Malone hesitated, watching her, and she swallowed. Finally, he sighed, his eyes looking down at her with sympathy, and he nodded. “Without the Captain…we could probably use all the help we can get. I’ll talk to the team and see what they think. It might be a little tricky because of your…connection to one of the victims, but I’m sure we could use your expertise.”

Felicity just nodded, not seeing anything but honesty behind his gaze. He looked slightly desperate, as if he wanted to bring The Throwing Star Killer to justice as much as she did. And it made her wonder how Detective Malone would feel if he knew there was probably not one, but  _two_ crazy people killing in this city.

Before she could respond, Oliver caught her attention as he took the stage, stepping up to the podium and meeting her eyes immediately. He nodded once, checking on her, and she smiled. 

As he greeted the crowd, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. She’d always known he was charming; the young and dumb playboy she’d seen in the tabloids who could dazzle his way out of anything. Or the older, more mature man she’d met for herself years later who could transfix her with his smile and get her to do ridiculous favors for him. Even now, standing in front of a crowd and giving a heart-wrenching speech about a man he’d loved and lost, people listened to Oliver Queen. They trusted him and his words. Just like she did. It was an instinctive spell he possessed, something about him that had always reached into the deepest parts of her, begging her to believe in him.

It was hard to deny his passion. His heroism was persistent and captivating, no matter how many times she’d tried to hate him. And it was impossible not to believe in the man that stood in front of her now, his eyes roaming over the crowd as he shared part of himself with them, his respect and honest love for Captain Lance. But his gaze continually found her, always coming back to meet her eyes, and the moment he did, it’d feel like he was speaking to her, only her, offering  _her_ the hope and protection that had made the city fall in love with him.

She lifted her chin as he finished up, blinking back tears that she hadn’t realized were threatening to fall until the room filled with applause. She clapped too, keeping her eyes on him until he disappeared behind the curtain again. She knew that in a matter of minutes, he’d be back out here, sitting next to her…and she wasn’t sure how her heart was going to handle that. Was it wrong to be this attracted to him?

Billy’s phone caught her attention, ringing on the table between them. He apologized, picking it up quickly and frowning down at it. She’d gotten a glimpse of the screen though, and she’d done enough research to recognize the area code. The call was coming from Corto Maltese, the very place that supplied The Throwing Star Killer with Void.

Her eyes darted up to his, and he gave her an apologetic smile. “Excuse me,” he said, standing up and heading for the back door.

Felicity rocked in her chair, anxiety building up in her body. She couldn’t wait for Oliver. She had to know who he was talking to  _now_. Quickly standing up, Felicity followed after Billy, through the long and darkened hallways of the venue, not exactly sure which way he had gone, so she took the turns that led her away from the noise and people, knowing he’d be looking for somewhere quiet. 

It led her to the kitchen, and she pushed the massive swinging doors open slowly. The room was completely dark besides the exit signs and the light coming through the door from the hallway. “Detective Malone,” she squeaked out, her voice shaking as much as her hands were, because something in the room did not  _feel_ right. It was an overwhelming presence, one that made everything feel colder than it probably was, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

She couldn’t hear him, which, she knew she should be able to, if he’d taken a phone call…she should have been able to hear his voice. Her legs were telling her to run, so she spun around quickly, heading for the doors, back where there was music and light and people. Back to  _Oliver_. There was a room full of officers beyond those doors that should make her feel safe, but she knew in that moment that it was Oliver she needed.

Right before she pushed through the swinging door, a loud clanking noise caught her attention, and her head snapped back towards the darkness. 

Just as Felicity stared into it, every instinct in her body telling her that something was very  _wrong_ , she heard something whizzing through the air. It was quick and sharp, and she didn’t have time to duck before it scratched her face. 

Her hand reached up to grab her cheek as she winced, her eyes darting down when she heard something metal hitting the concrete floor below her. A metallic ringing filled the room in an unnaturally slow moment as she identified the weapon, bouncing at her feet. 

The throwing star stilled right at her heel, and her heart dropped into her stomach. Her mind was fast enough to not only recognize it, but to know what it would be laced with. To know that the tingling feeling coming from her wound was Void.

It started at her face, the cheek that was sliced open, but it quickly reached her fingers and toes next. And then the rest of her body went numb, and the only thing she could perceive was her sight, shifting as she fell to the floor. She  _heard_ , more than felt, her head hitting the concrete. And then everything felt colder, her eyes straining to stay open. She couldn’t move, but she could sense the emptiness, slipping into the void before her vision went black.

* * *

John Diggle knew Oliver Queen like the back of his hand. As difficult of a guy he was to get to know, they’d eventually come to a mutual understanding. He was the best partner John had ever had, and he trusted Oliver implicitly. He also knew that Felicity Smoak was something special, and she’d always meant the world to Oliver, even if it was the hardest thing to get his friend to talk about.

Oliver had a tendency to avoid talking about Felicity. He’d avoid Dinah’s persistent pushing that they could use someone like Felicity on the team. None of it mattered, his answer was always no. Not even if Felicity stayed behind in the bunker while they were on missions. If she stuck to the comms and acted as their eyes and ears? Still, hell no. Oliver knew that Dinah was right as much as John did, but it wasn’t an idea that Oliver was comfortable considering. And John understood that, too. 

He’d been there when Felicity had gotten hurt, not Dinah. 

He’d been the one to push Oliver to ask Felicity out, telling him that he deserved to be happy, that everything would be okay. His urging had eventually convinced Oliver. And seeing what happened to Felicity the first time Oliver finally listened…John couldn’t help but carry some of the guilt too. 

He stared down at Felicity now, seeing her hurt,  _again_ , because they’d decided to allow her to get involved with what they did. 

Lyla was beside the cot in the bunker, checking Felicity’s vitals and glancing at him every few seconds. He just stared at the blonde, unconscious woman, “how much longer?”

“I don’t know, Johnny,” his wife sighed. “It could be a couple hours, or a couple days. God, I don’t even know…what if she wakes up but she can’t  _feel_ …” Lyla shuddered, trailing off as she shook her head at the thought.

Dig scrubbed his hands across his face, staring at the peaceful expression that Felicity Smoak wore. But he knew that her first-hand experience with Void could not have been peaceful. He couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to lose the feeling in your entire body. How helpless it must have felt. Did she notice the throwing star? Surely if she did…god, the poor woman probably thought she was about to die. No, she must have  _known_ that she was about to die.

He glanced at his wife, remembering the way Oliver had carried Felicity into the bunker an hour ealier, his eyes wide and glazed, his face so eerily similar to the night he’d had his first date with Felicity. It was absolute terror. Both times. Dread and fear pouring out of every fiber of his being. And Diggle didn’t even want to think about how that must have felt. 

He’d always tried so hard to understand Oliver. To see his reasoning and meet his friend half way. Sometimes things were cut and dry…other times they weren’t, but Diggle always  _tried_. 

Not tonight. 

For once, he didn’t want to put himself in Oliver Queen’s shoes. He didn’t want to sympathize with the overwhelming pain that was coursing through his partner, or imagine what it’d feel like to find Lyla the way Oliver had found Felicity, alone and paralyzed on a dark kitchen floor.

Not that he would ever share those thoughts with Oliver, but they were there. 

He didn’t envy the guilt that Oliver was surely feeling, and he also didn’t know what to say to alleviate it…at least not until Felicity woke up. Maybe then…but not now. There was nothing he  _could_ say. Which was why he hadn’t stopped Oliver when he’d grabbed his bow and his suit, his back full of tension as he silently stormed out of the bunker, going to hit the streets in search of Billy Malone, no doubt.

Oliver had been brief and tense in his explanation, but Dig and the team had understood enough, so he couldn’t blame the man for needing to  _do_ something. After his speech, Oliver had come out to find Felicity’s and Billy’s seats empty. 

All he knew was that Oliver went after Felicity, and found her unconscious in the country club’s kitchen with a throwing star lying next to her, bleeding from her cheek and head. Roy had been outside for backup, and they brought her here, not trusting hospitals or cops when it looked like Malone was their guy.

By the time Oliver carried her into the bunker, John and Lyla were up to speed enough to have the bed ready for her and a treatment prepped. 

His friend seemed relieved by that, but John knew that it wasn’t nearly enough to take away his pain or his self-loathing. The guilt was still there, just like it had been five years ago, and Dig knew that just like the date explosion, this was a weight and a burden that Oliver would always carry.

“She okay?” Roy’s voice pulled his attention to the doorway as he stepped into the room, his eyes focused on Felicity. Roy hadn’t met the girl yet, and he probably knew the least about her, but he’d been the one to see first-hand how Felicity effected Oliver, and the curiosity on his face was hidden just below his concern for Felicity’s health. 

Dig could only imagine what a mess Oliver must have been as they brought her here, and he also knew how unsettling it would be to Roy. The kid was kind of Oliver’s protege, someone who never knew Oliver Queen to get rattled. The Green Arrow worked with precision, focus, and a confident sense of control. It was everything he was teaching Roy how to be. 

Precise. Focused. Confident. Controlled.

Roy’s face made it clear that that was not the mentor he’d seen tonight.

“She’s going to be all right…hopefully,” he looked to his wife to finish explaining, since she was the one who knew more about Void.

“Yeah,” Lyla nodded, taking his cue, “yeah, she should be fine. Void doesn’t knock you out, so I think she’s unconscious from hitting her head, but honestly…it’s probably better…” his wife cringed. “I sent the throwing star to headquarters. With any luck, we’ll be able to pull prints off of it, but I’m not holding my breath on that.” Lyla sighed, and despite her vexatious past with Felicity, John could see the concern on her face, too.

Maybe it was something about Felicity’s presence, or maybe it was the unwavering significance she had on Oliver’s life, Dig wasn’t sure…but it was very clear that the team wanted Felicity Smoak to be okay, even if they barely knew her. And even if Lyla wasn’t particularly fond of her.

“Oliver should be here,” Roy mumbled, his eyes still on Felicity as he crossed his arms. The judgment was recognizable in the words. Roy didn’t approve of Oliver running off.

Dig opened his mouth to reply, but Felicity’s hand twitched on the bed, catching his attention. The room went silent for a moment, three sets of eyes narrowing in on that hand.

It twitched again, and John instinctively reached over to hold it. He squeezed her fingers, and she squeezed back, making him smile, because at least the effects of Void didn’t last long. When he looked up at her face, her eyes were open, blinking through her hazy sleep as she stared at him. “You,” she whispered.

He nodded once. Through all of the commotion, none of them had stopped to think about how they were going to explain any of this to her. She’d gone to the ceremony with Oliver Queen…Oliver, the mayor, as her ally. And now she was waking up in a secret bunker with at least two people she  _knew_ worked with The Green Arrow.

“How do you feel?” John asked, knowing that her health was more important, and also a good distraction.

Felicity cleared her throat, trying to talk but sounding hoarse. Lyla quickly passed her a cup of water, and Felicity narrowed her eyes for a brief moment before deciding it wasn’t worth it. She gave Lyla a small smile instead, whispering her thanks. After taking a sip, she passed the cup back to Lyla. “I think I’m okay,” she mumbled, “just tired…and my body is kind of tingly.”

Diggle nodded, realizing that he was still holding her hand when she politely slipped her fingers out from under his grip. He chuckled, “good. You’re going to be fine, Felicity. We’ve got you.”

Roy cleared his throat, “I’ll go call Ol-” he snapped his lips shut, tapping his fist against the door frame, “Yeah…” was all he mumbled before hurrying out. 

Felicity stared after him curiously, her eyes narrowing at the empty doorway. Then she sighed, dropping her head against the pillows behind her. “So,” she breathed, closing her eyes. “Where is he?”

When John and Lyla just sat, perfectly still, she opened her eyes again, glancing between them. “The Green Arrow?” John tried to clarify lamely, not sure if he had the heart to lie to the woman after all of this.

“Where’s  _Oliver_?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He…he knows that you’re safe. And um…I’m sure he’ll be happy to know you’re awake.” Dig answered carefully.

“Did he catch Detective Malone?”

John hesitated, “No. We’re looking for him.”

“He got a phone call from Corto Maltese,” Felicity mumbled, “I had to follow him, but I couldn’t…I didn’t…”

Diggle could hear the anxiety rising in her voice, “we know,” he offered a smile that he hoped was comforting. Understanding why Felicity had left the room now, why she’d followed Billy Malone anywhere…it was easier to put the pieces together. “We’re going to find him, but for now, you’re safe here.”

“Which one?”

Dig cocked his head to the side, looking at her in confusion. When she didn’t elaborate, he glanced up at his wife, who gave him and unhelpful shrug. “I’m not sure…I’m not sure what you mean, Felicity.”

“Which one is out looking for Billy Malone?” John just shook his head, still not following. Felicity sighed, her eyes rolling. “Mayor Queen or The Green Arrow?” She deadpanned, “which one?”

John froze, noticing Lyla go still as well, both of them staring at her. She glanced between them, waiting for an answer.

Lyla was the first to speak. “You…you know…” she trailed off, her words rising with the question that she was unable to actually  _ask_.

Felicity bit her lip, focusing on Lyla now. She nodded, “I’ve known for five years.”

 


	4. Doubt

Roy was just starting to pace the bunker, wondering if he should go back downstairs and help the Diggles with Felicity Smoak or if he should stay put, when he heard them coming up. He’d already called his mentor to tell him that Felicity was awake, and Oliver said he was on his way back.

He turned towards the stairs, surprised to see Felicity leading the way. John had a grip on her arm to keep her from wobbling, and Lyla followed behind, her hands hovering around Felicity, prepared to catch her if she stumbled backwards. “I’m okay,” the woman said with a gentle laugh as she slowly ascended the stairs. 

How anyone could be laughing after what happened to her was crazy to him. He’d never met Felicity. Didn’t know the first thing about her besides what everyone in Starling knew. She was a beautiful, successful businesswoman who had the respect of every corporation and investor in Starling. 

He’d also gathered that she had a history with Oliver. One that not too many people knew about. That was also crazy to him. Despite Oliver’s previous playboy status and obvious appeal to most women in the city, Roy had never known Oliver to even  _date_. After joining the team three years ago, he assumed that his mentor must have a social life that involved women...not that he thought much about it at all, but seeing the way Oliver  _broke_ when they found Felicity was jarring. 

Roy was the one who’d had to stay calm and come up with a plan to get out of there, all while Oliver held Felicity in his arms in that dark kitchen, rocking her slightly and pressing his cheek against her forehead. The throwing star that had scratched her face was lying next to her lifeless body, and Roy had really thought she was dead. It was clear that Oliver had too, as he’d choked on a sob, kicking the throwing star away as if it might still hurt her. Then he’d just stood, holding the woman tightly in his arms and listening to her breathe, making sure that she was. The guy had been useless, leaving Roy to find an escape route and keep an eye out for the psycho who’d attacked Felicity. 

Yet once they got to the bunker, once Felicity was safe and Lyla was somehow able to convince Oliver that she’d be okay, his guilt and concern morphed into anger, and he’d taken off to find Billy Malone.

Glancing at Felicity as she came up the stairs, Roy frowned, wondering why John and Lyla had allowed her to get out of bed. Felicity’s face looked paler than it had before she’d started her climb up the steps. She moved slowly and with a lot of effort, and it was clear that she shouldn’t be up and moving around just yet.

John and Lyla were prepared to catch her if she fell back on the staircase, what they weren’t prepared for was Felicity falling  _forward_. Her foot caught on the top step, leaving her without a stair to catch herself on. And her reflexes were still slow, not quite healed from the Void yet.

Like the trained vigilante he was, Roy’s hands darted out to catch her before his brain had even caught up. Three years of watching his team’s backs and his own had given him quick enough reflexes to close the distance and stop her fall. He picked her up, swinging her over the last obstacle of a step and gracefully set her feet on solid ground. Felicity closed her eyes, gripping the red leather covering his arms tightly. “Oh,” she groaned, “dizzy.”

“Sorry,” Roy mumbled.

She opened her eyes, giving him a shy smile. “Not your fault. Thanks for the save. I’m Felicity, by the way.”

“Roy Harper.”

“You’re a friend of The Green Arrow,” she cocked her head to the side, her eyes falling down to his leather suit, and she grinned, “clearly. I assume you’re the one the media has been calling…Red Arrow, is it?”

Rolling his eyes, Roy glanced at Diggle, “Arsenal,” he told her, “my team calls me Arsenal. The Green Arrow came up with it,” he said, squaring his jaw as he looked back at her.

Felicity’s eyes studied him, and he knew she was hearing the respect and appreciation in his tone.

It was always there.

Oliver had very literally turned Roy’s life around, and he was smart enough to know that without the team, without the work they did, he’d still be an angry and broken kid with no purpose. It was impossible  _not_ to respect men like Oliver Queen and John Diggle.

He cleared his throat, “you should sit down. You really shouldn’t be out of bed.”

“Well, Arsenal, I’m glad the city has someone like you looking out for it. The people here deserve true heroes to protect them.” She ignored his caution, but she spoke with a sincerity that made Roy hesitate, trying to determine if she was being as genuine as the words came across. And yeah, he could tell that she was; her smile and the look in her eyes said it as clearly as her words did.

Nodding once, Roy straightened his shoulders, pride rolling off of him. “Thank you.”

“And I hope Oliver isn’t too hard on you.”

His eyes darted to John and Lyla immediately. Dig raised his hands as if to say ‘I didn’t do it,’ and Lyla just stared at him blankly, raising an eyebrow and giving him an ‘I can’t even say I’m surprised’ look. Glancing back at Felicity, he found her still smiling, amused that she’d caught him off guard.

Keeping their identities from her was impossible since they brought her down to the bunker unconscious. None of them were trying to make the poor woman wake up after being attacked and paralyzed, in an unfamiliar basement with a bunch of people wearing masks hovering around her. But Roy had assumed that Oliver wasn’t quite ready for Felicity to know about  _him_ , and maybe that was part of the reason he’d left to chase Malone’s trail.

Even if he didn’t realize he was doing it, the fear in Oliver was prominent. He was afraid to tell her. He was worried about what she’d think of him, if she’d hate him.

“Yeah,” Felicity bit her lip, “he’s The Green Arrow. I put it together all on my own. A long time ago,” she whispered.

Roy just chuckled, shaking his head because they, Oliver especially, probably should have seen that coming; if this woman was as brilliant as everyone said she was. Felicity took a deep breath in, and then she nodded towards the computer that sat up on the landing of the bunker. “Mind helping me get over to that sad and lonely looking computer? I have a dirty cop to find.”

Clearing his throat, Roy nodded. He wrapped an arm around her back and guided her towards the steps. This time, she didn’t protest when he practically lifted her off her feet to get up on the landing.

Oliver had said he couldn’t find a trace of Billy Malone, and Roy was curious to see what Felicity Smoak was capable of. Dinah wanted her on the team, and Lyla seemed slightly afraid of her, so he knew she must be good in front of a keyboard.

Once Felicity was sitting in the black chair, Roy pushed it towards the monitors, rolling it across the floor and making her giggle. Oh, she definitely was a bit out of it. But then she sobered up, cracked her knuckles, and fired up the monitors while Roy hovered over her shoulder. “What are you going to do?” He asked cautiously, glancing behind him at John and Lyla. They each shrugged, and Roy rolled his eyes. The two of them were content to let this woman do what she wanted, like getting out of bed in the first place to come up here. Roy was a little more skeptical.

“I’m going to hack Detective Malone’s phone.” She said, cracking her knuckles again before she started typing. Images and codes he’d never even seen before started to come up on both monitors, and her fingers tapped across the keys at an impressive speed.

Raising his eyebrows, Roy watched, resting his elbows on the top of her chair and leaning over her for a better look. He wasn’t sure why it was so interesting to him, he had no idea what any of it meant. “Where did you learn how to do that?” He asked.

Felicity glanced up at him, pursing her lips before nodding towards the Diggles. “Your friends haven’t told you?”

“Not really.” He grumbled. Felicity was a touchy subject for Oliver, and even John was hesitant to entertain the idea of reaching out to her. But ever since she got involved with the police precinct, ever since she turned the place around to help the officers with cyber security, Dinah couldn’t stop talking about Felicity. She’d been begging Oliver to bring Felicity into the fold of Team Arrow for a year now. With no luck at all, of course. Roy hadn’t really cared either way, but now his interest was piqued.

“Oliver’s not a very open person.” He sighed, knowing that the same was true for himself…and pretty much everyone on the team. It was practically in the job description: must be emotionally stunted with at least a boatload of baggage.

Felicity hesitated for another moment to stare at him, her eyes narrowing. And then she laughed once. “Well, he does like his secrets. Not exactly a chatty Cathy, is he?” She let out a breath, shaking her head and turning back to her screens, but she ignored his question.

“Your system is seriously sad. Two monitors? You barely have the capacity for search programs, traffic surveillance, recognition software, or anything else I’ve wondered if The Green Arrow uses. I’m disappointed to know that the answer is  _none_ of it, but not that surprised. Honestly, how have you all even survived for five years with this crap?”

Roy’s eyes widened, Lyla let out an annoyed sigh, and Diggle laughed. “It helps to have a teammate with an in at A.R.G.U.S.” Roy answered, smirking at Lyla. “But unless we really need her to step in,” he shrugged, “we manage.” Felicity just nodded, clamping her lips shut and stopping herself from pushing the topic further, even though Roy was very interested to hear what else she thought about their operation. He wanted to ask, but instead he watched her work, each of them focusing on the screens as she tried to find Detective Malone.

After a few minutes of silence, they heard the elevator buzzing to life, and all of their eyes landed on the doors. 

When Oliver walked out, he made a beeline straight for the staircase, to where he thought Felicity was still on the bed downstairs, holding a hand up when Diggle tried to stop him. “Later,” he growled.

“Oliver,” Dig tried again, but Oliver shook his head.

“Later,” he snapped, his voice harsher this time, taking on the same unfamiliar and anxious tone Roy had heard in it earlier; yelling at him to ‘drive faster’ from the backseat of the van, with an unconscious Felicity in his lap.

Despite his abruptness, Oliver still hesitated, waiting a moment, looking for Diggle’s approval on a subconscious level. He was wearing his leathers, but his hood was down, and his eyes pleaded with John, asking if going down there to face Felicity was the right thing. John just sighed, reading Oliver’s concern just like Roy was. “She already knows,” Dig mumbled.

Felicity’s shoulders stiffened as Oliver swung around, and she and Roy were both surprised to see a flash of anger cross his face. 

Oliver hadn’t noticed her yet, Roy was standing in front of her, blocking the view, wanting to make sure Oliver had control of his emotions before he stepped away. Spinning back around to Diggle, Oliver asked, “you told her?” his fists clenching. “That wasn’t your secret to tell, John!”

Dig raised his hands in surrender, sensing that Oliver felt more betrayed and anxious than anything else. “I didn’t have to, man. She already knew.” He nodded towards Roy, who rolled his shoulders, surprised with himself that he was willing to stand between Oliver and the woman he’d only just met, should Oliver even dare to turn that angry gaze on her. The way Felicity rested her hand on his forearm, leaning around him to peek at Oliver, made Roy stand a bit taller, prepared to tell his mentor to get the hell out and calm down if he had to.

But when Oliver’s eyes reluctantly met Felicity’s, Roy saw the same brokenness on his face that he’d seen in the kitchen. He looked  _lost_. Again. Roy couldn’t help but shift his gaze between Oliver and Felicity, wondering what to do. Part of him was fascinated with Oliver’s erratic behavior over the past few hours, but the majority of his interest stemmed from Felicity Smoak. He’d never seen Oliver so worked up, and he was starting to see why Felicity was so important. 

“Hi,” she whispered, lifting her hand from Roy’s arm to weakly wave at Oliver.

Oliver was visibly holding his breath as he came closer, moving until he was just a few feet from them, stopping on the steps and gripping the railing.He hesitated, looking at Felicity as if he wasn’t sure whether she was afraid of him or not. If he should come closer or keep his distance. “Hi,” Oliver mumbled back, finally deciding to approach. Oliver’s gaze flickered up to Roy, narrowing in annoyance. “Can you give us a minute?”

On any other night, Roy would have stepped away immediately. He wasn’t really sure why he cared or what caused him to pause, but he looked down at Felicity, getting a small nod from her before he backed up, walking over to John and Lyla.

He stood with the two of them, pretending to inspect the bunker as if they were searching for bugs, which, if he thought about it, probably wouldn’t be that bad of an idea at this point. But a quick glance at John and Lyla proved that they were eavesdropping as much as he was.

Across the room, Oliver was pulling up a chair to sit beside her, the disbelieving look still on his face. “You’ve known?”

Felicity nodded.

He gaped at her, “when did you find out?  _How_?”

She cocked her head to the side, giving him a look. “Are you forgetting about the ridiculous lines you used to drop on me? I always knew you were lying.”

“Why didn’t you ever call my bluff?”

Felicity shrugged, “I thought you were just screwing around at first. But as I got to know you, it became very clear that you were not the person you pretended to be in front of all those cameras...it didn’t take much more than that to put two and two together. I figured you would tell me the truth when you were ready.”

“Felicity...” he shook his head, having no idea what to say. Five years of his life was just flipped on its head. He’d spent five years thinking that he was living a lie when the girl he obviously still loved...knew exactly who he was and what he did the entire time. “I thought I was ready,” he offered, unable to meet her eyes. “Maybe I was at the time, but what happened on our date changed everything...” Oliver didn’t seem to have the slightest clue about what to do with  _that_. How to handle the fact that she knew. “That night, I wanted to tell you...” he trailed off again, leaning a little closer to her, dropping his voice as if his partners weren’t actively listening already.

“You decided not to.” She said, straightening her shoulders. “That hurt, Oliver. More than the explosion did. And I thought you were wrong. I still do. I always have. But I knew there was nothing I could say to change your mind.”

“If I had known...if you’d told me that you knew...”

She smiled sadly at him, “would it have changed anything?” He hesitated, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought about it. She reached for his hand, but then she dropped it before she touched him, gripping her own fingers together in her lap. “You’ve had five years to change your mind...and you haven’t.”

“I needed you to be safe, Felicity. I thought that keeping my distance was the best thing for you.”

“I make my own decisions, Oliver.” She replied lowly, her shoulders tensing.

Oliver nodded in agreement, “I know. I didn’t tell you...because I knew that you would insist on helping. And I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stay away from you. It wasn’t just about your ability to make your own choices. It was about my decisions, too. I didn’t want you involved in this. I wasn’t...I wasn’t ready or prepared to let you in. I was so broken, I could barely look at myself.” He stared her straight in the eyes, unwavering, “I wasn’t ready to love you back then, Felicity.”

Felicity inhaled sharply, her eyes darting between his. And everyone in the room heard the truth in Oliver’s voice. He wasn’t ready to love her then, but he was ready now...

Before any of them could hear Felicity’s reply, the computers in front of her began to beep, making her jump and allowing John, Lyla, and Roy to suddenly become aware of their presence again. The screen in front of her made a noise Roy had never heard before. Oliver cocked his head to the side, the sound unfamiliar to him, too. He leaned over Felicity to look as his partners came up the steps behind them.

“Did you find Billy Malone?” Roy asked.

“You’re looking for Malone?” Oliver accused.

“I just tried to get a trace on his phone,” she said, waving him off as if hacking peoples’ phones to hunt them down was a normal thing that people did. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” Felicity sighed, “His phone’s untraceable.”

Roy frowned, “what kind of detective turns his phone off?”

Felicity made a face, “well...I didn’t say it was off. I mean, it is, but I don’t need a phone to be on to get a trace on it.”

“Well that’s terrifying.” Roy blurted, making Felicity smirk at him.

Her fingers started flying across the keyboard again as Oliver’s face fell a bit, and he stepped closer to her chair. “He completely took his device off the grid. Poof, gone. Even as a detective, he wouldn’t think to do that unless he had some knowledge about hacking.”

“You mean unless he knew that a hacker might follow his trail.” Oliver said.

“Exactly,” she answered, glancing up at him, sharing a look of understanding. “I followed him out after he got a call, so he must have destroyed his phone after he...after what happened. I followed him into the hallway but he was gone. He must have known  I’d go after him,” Felicity sighed, her head falling back to rest on the chair, “you know, I swear I usually have great instincts about people. Malone seemed totally normal, not serial killer-ish at all...but he’s looking incredibly guilty right now.”

“You followed him out of there?” Oliver asked. Felicity nodded again, too distracted to talk to him. “Because he got a phone call?”

“Not just any phone call.” She relayed, “it was from Corto Maltese. I was really ready to tell you that we were wrong about him, that he couldn’t be The Throwing Star Killer, but it can’t be a coincidence that our only suspect got a call from the place that Void is made.”

“Or that he seems to be covering any tracks  _you_ might be able to find.” Dig offered, leaning on the table across the room with Lyla at his side.

“But why attack you outside of a banquet hall with every cop in the city right there? Why Void?” Lyla wondered.

Oliver shook his head, his breath catching in his throat as he looked down at her. Felicity glanced over her shoulder at him, smiling softly. “I’m okay,” she whispered.

Oliver let out a breath, putting his hand on her shoulder and closing his eyes. “Felicity, I think you should-”

“Damn it!” She interrupted. Spinning around, Oliver and Roy both had to step back to avoid her legs as they swung out towards them. “Finding Malone is going to take a while. He was prepared for this, probably planned on disappearing tonight all along.”

“He’s our guy,” Oliver tried to say calmly, even though the idea of a killer being out there and having no idea where he was was terrifying. But more than anything else, Billy Malone had already attacked Felicity once, and Oliver was clearly worried about the chances of that happening again.

Lyla crossed her arms, stepping towards them, “I can use A.R.G.U.S to get a location.”

Felicity frowned, “I can do more than hack his phone.” She said defensively.

Lyla raised an eyebrow, “you say that as if I’m not completely aware of your skills, Ms. Smoak. But you need to rest. And my systems are far better than this,” she waved her hand at Team Arrow’s sad looking makeshift tech station.

Groaning, Felicity dropped her head against the back of the chair. “Don’t remind me about your tech, Director Michaels. It’s so, so beautiful.”

Oliver fought a smile, moving towards her again. He bent down, leaning beside her chair so he could meet her eyes. “I want you to come home with me, Felicity.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened, “that’s...direct.” 

His eyes widened too, “I didn’t...” Oliver huffed, shaking his head. “The Throwing Star Killer attacked you, Felicity. I want you to stay with me, so I know you’re safe.”

She exhaled, nodding without a fight. “Okay.” Her agreement seemed to surprise Oliver. Felicity grinned, “what? I might be stubborn, but I’m not stupid.”

* * *

 

They pulled up in front of the mansion, and Felicity stared up at the windows as she tried to calm her breathing. Oliver reached towards her feet, his fingers brushing against her leg as he reached for her bag on the floor. He barely touched her, but god, she was so tuned in to him that she felt goosebumps rise on her arms at the subtle touch. He got out and slung the bag over his shoulder, filled with enough clothes and technology for at least a week.

Felicity smiled at him as she stepped out of the car, and he smiled back, more hesitant than she’d ever seen him. Oliver gently shut the passenger door before putting his hand on the small of her back, leading her towards the giant wooden doors of his home. 

She knew he was rightfully nervous. She had just dropped a pretty big bomb on him and everything he’d believed for the past five years. He hesitated at the door, turning to face her. “I live with my sister.” He said unexpectedly.

Felicity nodded. Five years ago, he’d lived with Thea as well as his mom and her husband Walter in this mansion. She’d assumed that he and Thea wouldn’t want to be split up. Besides, it wasn’t like the massive mansion was too small for the two of them. 

Waiting for him to open the door, she glanced up at him as his hand continued to hover over the handle. “She doesn’t know...about what I do at night, who I am. I mean...you know what I mean.”

Felicity offered him a small smile, “okay,” she said simply.

He nodded, satisfied, and opened the door. 

Following him into the foyer, she watched as he glanced up the stairs, and then into the living room. “Thea?” he called. 

Oliver gestured for her to follow him, leading her towards the kitchen, which they also discovered was empty. She hadn’t been to the Queen mansion in years, but they used to throw some pretty fun holiday parties for Queen Consolidated employees. 

The place looked incredibly different without the cheery and bright decorations, without a crowd to fill all of the open space. The dark wood and dim lights were probably something that Oliver was used to. It might even feel homey to him, but to her...it was a little creepy. The giant windows were gorgeous, especially on a well lit and star-filled night like tonight, but she could also imagine how ominous those views must be whenever it rained.

“Are you hungry?” Oliver asked, tossing her bag onto the large marble counter top in the middle of the kitchen. She shook her head, and he pursed his lips. “Would you eat some toast if I made it? You should really eat something...”

He seemed hesitant to ask anything of her, even the simple and necessary task of eating. He was right, too. She hadn’t eaten since before the attack, and if she wasn’t so groggy from the Void and nervous about being in a seemingly empty mansion with him, she would probably be starving. “Sure,” she answered, watching as his face softened with relief. 

Pulling out a chair, she watched him as he moved around the kitchen. He was only making toast, but there was something about the way he navigated the space that made her smile. He liked being in here. He was familiar with it. “Do you cook?”

He glanced up at her as she asked the question, his eyebrows furrowing. “Sometimes,” he responded, “it’s pretty relaxing. Our housekeeper, Raisa, showed me a few things when I got home five years ago. At first I just liked the tasks, having something to focus on, something to do with my hands,” He glanced around the kitchen, “this place is obviously pretty quiet now...but it’s kind of always been like this. It drove me crazy when I came back. I’d become used to hearing bugs chirping and wolves howling all night on the island. The silence here was deafening. If I wasn’t trying to take down the city’s worst, sleeping, or with you, I was cooking with Raisa.”

She nodded, smiling gently at his answer. Now that she knew his secret, or rather, now that  _he_ knew she knew his secret, a weight seemed to be lifted from his shoulders. The air between them had definitely shifted, and she was relieved to see that he was rolling with it instead of fighting against it. “I guess I finally have a chance to say thank you.”

Oliver met her eyes as he froze, “for what?”

“For what you’ve done for this city, Oliver. It’s safer here than it’s ever been, and that’s because of you and your team.”

He closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath, “your work with the SCPD made things a lot easier, you know.” 

She smiled as he brought a plate over, setting it in front of her and leaning onto the counter across from her. He picked up the second piece of bread and took a bite. She smiled, watching him for a moment before she looked away, taking a bite of her own piece and focusing on eating it. 

Void left a coppery taste in her mouth that didn’t mix very well with the food, but she fought the urge to cringe and drop it. “Thea’s not home?” She asked between bites, stealing another look at him.

He shrugged, “I guess not. She had a meeting with the board, it must be running late.”

“How is she liking the business?” Felicity asked.

Oliver snorted, “she’s a much better CEO than I ever was.”

“Queen Consolidated is in good hands,” she smiled as she finished her food. Felicity stood up, feeling like she needed to move. Her body still felt a little strange, restless, as if it had energy it wanted to get out after a few hours of being unable to move. “Want to show me around?” She asked him.

“Oh,” he nodded quickly, grabbing her bag off the table before leading her back down the hallway they’d come. “Of course.” He led her through each room of the mansion, sometimes explaining a certain piece of art or painting on the wall, but she was more charmed by the baby photos of him and Thea that were scattered around the house. Queen family Christmas portraits were an especially adorable treat. In almost every one, Thea looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, and Oliver was trying to get her to laugh. It made Felicity chuckle, lightening the mood and giving her a moment’s break from their current, very dire looking problems.

As they climbed the stairs, he’d pointed out a dent on the railing that had apparently been caused by Thea’s head during a nasty fall when she was nine.

The rest of the tour went much the same; he showed her the guest rooms, setting her bag on the bed of the one that was next to his own bedroom. He didn’t ask which room she preferred, clearly wanting her close. Not that she cared. She was on the same page, anyway. In fact, she was pretty certain that if he’d offered to share his own room with her...she’d have said yes. 

He closed the door of the upstairs parlor behind them as they came back into the hall, and her heart beat a little faster as they finished the tour, because  _now what?_  “So,” she breathed, glancing at his bedroom door instinctively. It wasn’t that late, and she’d only been awake for an hour or two. She was far from tired.

When Oliver just stared at her, Felicity bit her lip, moving towards the pictures lining the hallway. The first one was of Walter, Moira, and a much younger Thea, obviously taken during the time that Oliver was on Lian Yu. The next one was of Thea and Oliver at Queen Consolidated. She was familiar with the office, it’d been Walter’s while she was working there. Then it’d been Oliver’s office. And now it was Thea’s. The pride in Oliver’s eyes in the photograph was clear, as he and his sister shook hands, the day he’d officially signed QC over to the capable hands of Thea Queen. 

“She looks good as a leader,” Felicity offered, gesturing to the wall, noting the confidence that Thea exuded, even at such a young age and even on her first day as CEO. The woman was ready, clearly made for the job.

Oliver nodded in agreement, the same pride sparking in his eyes now that was present on his face in the photograph, “she does. She reminds me so much of our mom sometimes. The Queen stubbornness is somehow charming on her. She’s just as cunning as mom was...and every bit as smart.”

“Moira would be really proud of her, then,” Felicity whispered, more for him than for her. She’d only come across Moira Queen a handful of times during her time at QC, but the perception never changed. The woman was ruthless. There had obviously been a gentle side of her, reserved for her children, that Felicity had never gotten to see. So she took Oliver’s word.

“Yeah,” Oliver whispered back, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked up at the photograph of his mom. “She would be.” He glanced down at her, “you know, after my mom died, there wasn’t anyone I wanted to talk to more than you.”

Felicity stared back up at him, remembering his mother’s funeral. She’d gone back and forth all morning about going, truly not knowing whether her presence would be well received by Oliver. She didn’t wan’t to make the day worse, but she knew she’d regret it if she didn’t at least  _try_ to be there for him.

Keeping her eyes off of him that day was impossible. He looked more broken than she’d ever seen him. Vulnerable. He’d nodded to her when he noticed her in the crowd, but it wasn’t until after the funeral, while the crowd made their way through the cemetery to their cars, that he’d caught up to her. And she’d tried very hard not to read too much into the look in his eyes, like the fact that she was there meant the world to him. He hadn’t spoken, but he’d sighed as he looked down at her. Then he’d run his thumb over her cheek and closed his eyes, only removing his hand when his sister called his name to get in the limo. 

It was such an odd moment, but one that she constantly thought about. His resolve was still there, he was still set on keeping his distance. And she hadn’t fought against it any more that day than she had after their date. 

His mother had been murdered by a man named Slade Wilson, who she’d apparently been doing business with. It wasn’t just that Oliver was stubborn or that he didn’t want her mixed up with his life, with the danger it entailed. He’d experienced pain in ways that she couldn’t even imagine. Hurt in unthinkable ways. 

Even if she knew in her heart that they were better together rather than apart, Oliver had to realize that for himself. She just hadn’t expected it to take five years. As the months passed, she’d slowly been cracking all along, and she hadn’t even realized it. Breaking just a fraction more every time The Green Arrow was being covered on the news. Every time they crossed paths.

Looking at him now, with the giant secret gone, the barrier between them down, it felt like the pieces were being put back together. The elephant in the room was dead, and it was just them, staring at each other with something new. A fresh level of honesty and closeness that felt strange yet wonderful after so many years of fracturing.

Just like that afternoon in the cemetery, Oliver lifted his hand to her face, gently grazing his thumb over her skin, and this time she was the one to close her eyes at the sensation. He kept his fingers on her face as he spoke, “Slade wasn’t just an investor for Queen Consolidated.”

She slowly opened her eyes, trying to catch up with the shift. “what do you mean?”

“He was on the island with me. He came here for me. He killed my mom...to hurt me.”

Shaking her head, she lifted one of her hands and rested it over the one that he still had on her, squeezing his fingers. “When I saw you that day at the funeral...”

“What Slade took from me...it reminded me that I’d made the right choice by keeping you away. You were one less person he could hurt. I knew that you were safe, because Slade didn’t know how I felt about you. I was so  _relieved_ to see you at her funeral, Felicity. But I knew that there would always be someone coming after me. Always a threat.”

“Why did Slade, um, do what he did?”

Oliver sighed. “Because I caused the death of someone he loved. I was forced to make an impossible choice between two lives,” his eyes drifted, and she stared at him, seeing that he was remembering it, even now. “By protecting someone I loved, I let someone that Slade loved die.” Felicity stayed quiet, waiting in perfect stillness as if movement would make him stop talking. He nodded to himself as he read the look on her face.

She  _needed_ this.

“That night, he took my mom and Thea. He wanted me to choose again...and when I didn’t, he put a sword through my mother’s heart. I...I  _watched_ her die. For me. Because of choices _I_  had made. And I just...I need you to understand why I’ve been so sure, for so long, that you knowing my secret wasn’t safe. Wasn’t  _right_. I refused to let anyone else die because of my sins. It’s why I stayed away from you, and it’s why I can’t tell Thea that I’m The Green Arrow. Too many people have died because of me.”

Felicity closed her eyes, feeling tears well in her eyes. For him. Again. “Oliver...” she mumbled, shaking her head. 

“Felicity, seeing you in that hospital bed, with a broken arm and covered in scars, even after everything I experienced, it was the  _worst_ thing. You got hurt because I let my guard down. I allowed myself to get distracted. But three years ago, Slade Wilson killed my mother in front of me, in front of  _Thea_ , and it’s something I will never,  _never_ forget. I know that you deserved answers. I know that you deserved the truth, and you deserved to hear it from me.” He took in a deep breath, getting out what he wanted to say.

Nodding slowly, Felicity stepped a little closer, “and what do you think now?”

He exhaled slowly, staring down at her, “I think that we have two killers on our hands, and having you standing in front of me right now is exactly where I need you to be.”

She smiled, part of her wanting to push a little harder, to coax out why he cared so much, even after all these years, but she chose to let him off the hook. 

The way he looked at her said it all, anyway. 

She’d spent five years boarding up her heart like she was taking cover from a storm. Adrian had been rain, seeping through the cracks. And she’d been okay with that. Comfortable. It was a slow and predictable downpour. But Oliver Queen was a hurricane, and he was blowing through her carefully constructed walls. It was too late to stop him, she suddenly realized, but she was also sure that she didn’t  _want_ to.

They’d eventually parted, making their way into their respective rooms. She wasn’t exactly sure if she was the one trying to hold up a boundary or if it was him, but she’d spent the better part of two hours staring out of the window in her room, thinking about him. Remembering the time they’d spent together five years ago, his mother’s funeral, and all of the encounters in between, trying to put the pieces together like a puzzle with more than a few missing pieces. 

It wasn’t until her phone rang that she realized how long she’d been lying on her side, somewhat disappointed that Adrian’s name was on her screen. Because god, she really wasn’t ready to think about how Oliver Queen’s thumb brushing across her cheek did wilder things to her heart than any moment she’d shared with the man she was currently dating. “Hey,” she answered, her voice coming out as tense as she felt. 

She glanced at the clock, her eyes widening when she noticed that it was 2:00 in the morning. “Hey,” Adrian breathed back, “are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah... I’m fine. Are you?” She cringed.

“No,” he answered. “My girlfriend lost a friend, and she’s been shutting me out ever since.”

Felicity laughed once, “we’ve never really been an emotionally expressive kind of couple, Adrian.” She closed her eyes at how  _stupid_ it seemed now. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what about their relationship had been so appealing. He wasn’t an open person, and the only reason she’d been okay with that was because...boarded up heart and all that.

“Maybe we haven’t gotten to the bearing our souls stage yet, Felicity,” he said, “but you know I care about you. We’ve only been together for a few months.” 

Frowning, she hesitated. It was hard not to compare Adrian’s closed off manner with that of Oliver’s. Because boy...had Oliver been a closed book when she’d first met him. But her  _gut_ had been different then. It’d been better. After a couple weeks of knowing Oliver, she’d known that his heart was good. 

Fidgeting, she realized that she’d never felt that moment of clarity with Adrian. There was never a moment of ‘yes, I want this in my life’ when it came to him. 

Yet she could still remember the exact moment she’d known Oliver was someone she wanted to keep. He’d shown up for pizza and Doctor Who reruns one night carrying a pair of socks that had cartoon laptops all over them with little speech bubbles saying “home is where the wifi is.” Her moment of clarity had been when he blushed, mumbling an explanation about her cold feet, referring to an offhanded comment she’d made days prior.

Adrian had never given her anything, and as she let that sink in, it felt like a much different moment of clarity. It wasn’t just about silly socks or anything physical. He’d hardly offered much of himself to her at all. Taking their time was one thing, but she’d become so familiar with his simple presence that she hadn’t noticed that she barely even knew Adrian. Or maybe she had noticed, and part of her had liked it that way.

Not anymore.

“Felicity?” He breathed over the phone.

“Yeah,” she sat up in the bed, “sorry. It’s just really late, I’m tired...is everything okay?”

The silence that met her made her hold her breath. She wasn’t sure if she was expecting more bad news, or if she was afraid of what Adrian would say, but something made her shiver. When he spoke again, his voice was low and even, forced control seeping into her ear. “Are you with him?”

“Who?” She choked, her breath catching.

“You know who,” he said in the same tone. And she saw the man from the other night, the one who had yelled at her and called her stupid. Gone was the easygoing man she’d known for months. Had he always had this unnerving demeanor and she’d never had her eyes open for it before, or was this new? “Are you with him?” Chase asked again, demanding an answer in that chilling tone. “Oliver.”

She didn’t respond. Half of her considered hanging up, but then she wondered if he’d show up here. Adrian wasn’t the confrontational type, but she wasn’t sure what to make of him anymore. “Felicity,” he spoke through the insufferable silence that she refused to fill. “If he touches you tonight...” She held her breath, another chill rattling through her body as the threat hung in the air. She still didn’t speak, biting her lip and waiting for the rest. He’d what? Kill Oliver? The way he spoke certainly suggested something along those lines, but... _no_. No, Adrian was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a  _killer_. 

Apparently he decided against finishing his sentence, choosing wisely not to make threats. “We’re not done here...” he said instead, and she actually flinched. “You and me, we’re not done yet.”

She shook her head in disagreement even if he couldn’t see it. Because god, had they ever even started? Oliver offered perspective, but he wasn’t the reason that her relationship with Adrian felt superficial. “Yes, Adrian,” she said sternly. “We are.”

Hanging up the phone had never felt more relieving. But she still felt too warm. Kicking off the blankets, she stood up, tossing her phone onto the bed and beginning to pace. She went to the window and cracked it open, just for a moment, to let some fresh air in. And then she slumped onto the bay window seat and pressed her head against the glass.

It felt better for a few minutes, but then her thoughts became a little overwhelming again. Confusing. Between the attack, Oliver finally being out in the open with her, and the phone call with Adrian, it was just too little too much to handle without at least a minor anxiety attack.

After taking a moment to focus on the coolness of the glass on her forehead and the sound of the wind while she caught her breath, she relaxed, her shoulders slumping against the wall behind her. 

She needed to move. Water. She needed water.

Getting up, she quietly snuck out of the guest bedroom. Oliver’s door was cracked open, and she peeked in, just to make sure he was there, to feel safe. He laid on his stomach, his back bare, his arms tucked under the pillow beneath his head. The blanket was kicked aside, almost off the bed completely, evidence of a restless sleeper. But the thin sheet was pulled up to his waist, just covering his ass...and _yup, he was naked._  Water. She needed water.

Pulling her eyes away, Felicity tip-toed her way down to the kitchen, quietly searching for the light on the side of the wall. She could have sworn she’d seen Oliver flick it off, right here, before they’d gone to bed. Her fingers jammed into it, colliding with the plastic light switch she’d been searching for. “Ow,” she whined as she flipped the light on.

And then she screamed.

Her jumpiness was definitely ten levels worse than usual, but who the hell sat in a pitch black kitchen? 

Thea seemed unamused as she glanced up, her eyes narrowing at the sudden light. Felicity clamped her hand over her mouth, and Thea raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh my god,” Felicity breathed. As she caught her breath, a slow smile spread across Oliver’s sister’s face.

“Felicity Smoak.” The younger Queen snorted, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Finally...meet...?” Felicity huffed, “nice to meet you, too, Thea.”

“I’m glad my brother eventually pulled his head out of his ass. Even if it’s five years later.”

She raised an eyebrow, “you knew about us?”

“Oh yeah,” Thea waved her off, “I knew all about his crush on you. Ollie tells me everything.”

Before Felicity could think too much about the irony of Oliver’s secrets, he was barreling into the kitchen. Shirtless and barefoot with a pair of sweatpants hanging from his hips as if he’d tugged them on to come running down here, his eyes landed on Thea first. And then he looked at Felicity. His wide-eyed panic was only cute because it was matched with sleepy and bewildered. And some seriously adorable bed hair. “Are you okay?” He croaked, reaching for her arm as his eyes flew between her and Thea.

Thea rolled her eyes, pushing up from the kitchen table to take care of her glass where she’d been drinking. “Your sister likes to drink whiskey in the dark, I guess.” Felicity whispered to him, nodding her chin at the bottle on the table.

Chuckling, Thea shrugged. “That’s the best way to drink it. Try it before you knock it, Smoak.” She teased with a camaraderie that felt strange but nice. “Big brother,” Thea clapped her hands against his shoulders, pushing up onto the balls of her feet so she could kiss his cheek. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Don’t screw this up, yeah?” She flashed a smile, slapping her palms against his skin.

Oliver grumbled, “goodnight, Thea.” He waited until she was out of listening-range before he spoke to her. “Sorry she scared you,”

Felicity just shook her head, “Sorry my screaming scared  _you_. I just came down to get some water.”

“You sure you’re okay?” 

Felicity bit her lip and nodded. Oliver walked into the kitchen and swung one of the cabinet doors open, pulling out two tall glasses. She followed after him, hoisting herself onto the counter as he set the glasses beside her. “I would have woken up as soon as you did if you’d been in my room with me,” he mumbled, almost to himself.

She stared at him as he moved around her, her spot on the counter right beside the fridge, so he had to lean over her to reach into it and pull out a pitcher of water. Okay, he probably didn’t  _have_ to, but neither of them cared. His chest brushed against her as he bent down. Then he glanced up at her apologetically, “I didn’t mean-I just meant that if something had actually happened, having you in my room might’ve been better. Not that you need to sleep there, because you don’t. You...” He shook his head, trailing off and focusing on pouring the water.

“You’re right,” she countered, grinning at his profile beside her, the embarrassed look on his face, a new expression. He always had such confidence, but it was clear that her being in his home, his space, especially for such a daunting reason, was uncharted territory for both of them. “Maybe...if you wanted I mean, I should sleep in your room.”

He met her eyes, almost seeming grateful that she’d said it, making her wonder how comfortable he’d been with having her in another room in the first place. “I can take the floor,” he said, scratching the back of his head, “I’d just feel a lot better if I had you close to me.”

“You don’t have to sleep on the floor,” she mumbled, taking the glass he offered her. She took a sip as he watched her. And she knew that he was seeing something new in her eyes. Or maybe it was old. “I’m sure your bed’s big enough for both of us.”

She was flirting, which had Oliver’s mouth opening, and then closing. Finally, he closed his eyes, “Felicity, listen,” he sighed, and her heart sank, her body freezing. “I don’t want to make any of this harder for you. Messier or more confusing, I just-” he inhaled sharply, “I care about you. I don’t want to lose you again. And I know it’s complicated and that you’re seeing Adrian Chase now, so I...”

“Not so much.” He cocked his head to the side, and she sighed. “I told you that being with Adrian was easy. That’s why I was doing it. Well...it stopped being easy.” She bit her lip, wondering if she should mention Adrian’s implied warning, but she chose against it. There were too many problems and murderers running around their city. They didn’t need to get worked up over a threat that hadn’t actually been made. Adrian was probably just venting, frustrated that she wasn’t confiding in him, clearly sensing her connection with Oliver. 

“You broke up with him?” Oliver whispered, his eyes heavy on hers, and she nodded, not looking away. He stepped a little closer, his hand resting on the counter beside hers. “Tonight?” He asked, his pinkie finger twitching like he wanted to touch her.

Felicity nodded again, her eyes fixed on his hand. His fingers slowly slid over to hers, brushing the tips of them against her knuckles and making her shiver. When she looked up, he was another step closer, his eyes focused on her face. “Are you okay with that?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

Surely, they both knew the answer to that. Nearly dying at the hands of psychotic killers was one thing,  _that_ was upsetting...but if he was under the impression that Adrian was someone she’d cry over...then he hadn’t been paying attention the last few days.

Nodding, she moved her hand, letting his fingers slip between hers. His thumb slowly traced circles on the back of her hand, and the warmth of his hand made her eyes flutter shut. She lifted her chin towards him, giving in to her senses, feeling him step closer. God, why did it feel like she hadn’t been touched in years? Oliver’s other hand came up to graze her neck, and she knew how close he was, his face inches from hers.

“Forgot my phone.” Thea interrupted, jogging back into the kitchen and making them both jump. Oliver’s hands flew away from her and he stepped back, running his fingers through his hair as he glanced at his sister. Felicity let out a breathy laugh as she tried to relax, watching Thea narrow her eyes at them, the phone she’d left on the table hanging from her hand. Then she grinned at them, a knowing smile, not bothering to be suble about it at all. “Am I interrupting?”

“No,” Felicity shook her head and Oliver exhaled, his eyes glaring holes into Thea. “We were just going to bed.” She hopped off the counter, grabbing her glass of water and then Oliver’s hand, pulling him towards the stairs, smiling at Thea as they said goodnight again.

* * *

 

When Oliver woke up, he was curled around Felicity. He could smell her shampoo, feel her warm skin as he squeezed her closer to his chest. He buried his face in the back of her neck, ignoring the fact that the arm she was using as a pillow was totally numb.

It took him a moment to realize that she was tapping his hand where he had it resting over her stomach, his mind taking too long to catch up, groggy from the best sleep he’d had in a very, very long time. He pulled his head up once he woke up completely, clocking her fingers trying to get his attention. Her back was tense where it was pressed against his chest. “What is it?” He mumbled, tilting his head toward her. 

“I don’t know...I...I woke up and I thought I saw someone outside, but then I blinked, and there wasn’t anyone there. I guess it was a dream, I just...”

“Hey,” he whispered, tightening his hold on her, her whole body molding against his. “You’re okay,” He wanted to kiss her, but he wasn’t sure how she’d feel about that just yet. He’d never seen her when she first woke up, but she looked as beautiful as he’d ever seen her; a faint red spot on her cheek from where she’d been resting her head on his arm for the past few hours. Glancing out of the window, he could tell that it was about five in the morning. The sun wasn’t up yet, but everything was lighter, made clear through a grayish and cold morning. “Who did you see?”

“Prometheus,” she whispered immediately, her voice coming out small and afraid, making his body tense as he glanced down at her.

Oliver rested his forehead against hers for a moment, silently letting her know that he was there and he wasn’t going anywhere. “You’ve been staring at that A.R.G.U.S. picture for days, Felicity, you were attacked, and you’ve only had a few hours of sleep in the past two days. You’re exhausted.”

She nodded, relaxing into him as if his words were all she needed. She twisted around to face him, giving his arm a moment to get some blood flowing before she was curling into him again. He pulled his arm up, cradling her head as she settled onto his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, hearing her sigh as her hand slid up his chest. He liked the sound of contentedness she made, so he kissed her one more time for good measure, pressing his lips to her hairline. He allowed himself to keep them there for a wonderful moment, breathing in the sweet and flowery scent of her hair. 

Even though Felicity accepted that seeing someone in the backyard had been a figment of her imagination, Oliver scanned the lawn, keeping Felicity wrapped up as he peered over her head. The wind blew the trees, and Oliver’s eyes tracked each movement with practiced ease, focusing his gaze on every inch of the property he could see.

They stayed like that for another thirty minutes, while Felicity fell asleep and Oliver relaxed, keeping his eyes on the window as he brushed his fingers through her hair. Nightmare or not, a product of her anxious stress or not... he was going to make  _damn_ sure that she was safe. 

He was just starting to fall back asleep, satisfied wit the quiet morning as the sun started to peek out through the clouds. A metallic glint caught his eye as he drifted off, something in the woods casting an unfamiliar and unusual light. He narrowed his eyes, seeing that the emerging sun was reflecting off of a sword that was buried in a tree a few yards into the forest, past the treeline of their yard.

Stiffening, he slipped his arm out from under Felicity, making her groan as she woke up. He kept his eyes on the sword, panicking because he didn’t want to scare her... but it was far past the point of pretending there wasn’t a reason to be afraid. 

They should be. 

Felicity was involved...so he  _was_ scared. “Stay here, okay?” He tried to sound relaxed, but she was already sitting up.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just have to check something outside.” He offered, double checking that the door to his bedroom was locked. Then he pulled on a shirt, and when he turned back around, Felicity was standing by the window, goosebumps covering her skin.

He pulled her back from the window, “over here, please,” he muttered, a flash of panic rushing through him again. If someone was still out there, the last thing he wanted was for them to have an eye on Felicity. “Try to stay away from the window,” he said carefully.

Then he opened the latch and hopped out, his bare feet landing in the damp grass. “Close that behind me, please, Felicity.”

Her eyes met his, and he nodded reassuringly, but she still looked nervous. He waited for her to follow his instructions before he jogged to the treeline, glancing from side to side as he moved. Once he reached the woods, he continued to canvas the area, letting his instincts kick in as much as his eyes and ears. 

Not sensing anything, Oliver moved through the trees, silently navigating the leaf and twig covered ground until he reached the sword. 

There, he glanced around again, making sure the coast was clear before he analyzed the weapon in front of him. It only took him a moment realize that it was League material, or maybe more likely, it was Talia al-Ghul material...if Prometheus had studied under her like Lyla had suggested. 

Oliver gave a quick look to the mansion, to the window where Felicity was, away from the glass like he’d requested, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching him. Then he pulled the sword out, gripping it in his hand as he jogged back to the house. 

The rest of what happened only took a moment.

As soon as Oliver reached the open field, emerging into the yard, he froze. He kept his eyes on the window, so he saw the exact moment that Felicity screamed. 

And then she was running to the window, yanking it open, her face wild with panic.

His first thought was that someone was in the house, that she was trying to get out, to come to him, but then he felt a fist collide with his jaw at the same moment that he heard Felicity yelling his name. He was seeing stars, his head becoming light as his ears began to ring, the sound of his teeth clanking together echoing in his ears.

He fell back, stumbling away from the attack, trying to regain his footing. He swung the sword with practiced precision, even if his brain was still rattling around a bit. 

A dark figure ducked, expecting it. Probably because the assailant in front of him was the one who had left the sword in the tree, baiting him to come out and fight. 

As Oliver paused, he mentally calculated the best plan of action as much as he tried to wrap his head around the man in front of him, looking just like the photograph that Felicity had brought to him on the roof of Smoak Technologies.

Prometheus.

He wore a leather suit much like his own, but with black arrows strapped to his back instead of green ones. And a mask that hid his entire face.  _Why?_ Oliver couldn’t help but wonder. A face mask would make shooting arrows more difficult, which was exactly why he’d opted for paint before Star Labs had gifted him with the mask he wore now.

As Prometheus stalked closer, Oliver knew that whatever face was beneath the mask was one that would be familiar. Maybe from his past, maybe in passing, or maybe more significant, he had no idea. But he  _knew_ this man. He was sure of it in his bones.

By the way his opponent fought, it was clear that he was no amateur. He met Oliver blow for blow, to the point where Oliver’s confidence was beginning to waver, wondering if this was a fight he was capable of winning. 

“Oliver!” Felicity screamed again after Prometheus delivered a knee to the side of his head that made his ears ring. Hearing her voice yelling his name snapped him back into focus, and he ducked just as Prometheus’ fist swung for his face, a knife in his grip. He reared back the sword, bringing the handle of it down onto his opponent’s head. 

Using the moment while Prometheus staggered back, disoriented, he glanced at Felicity. She had one of her legs out of the window, as if she was about to scramble down and run out here, unarmed and in her pajama shorts and tank top. 

The fact that he was momentarily worried about her catching a cold on a chilly morning was an adequate reminder that Prometheus had gotten a couple of good shots onto his head. 

He shook his head at Felicity, telling her to stay put. He  _had_ this. Prometheus killing him left Felicity and Thea without protection, alone in the mansion...and that just wasn’t going to happen. He inhaled, focusing on the creep in leather and giving all of his attention to the fight, to ending it, taking that mask off, and getting one of the city’s problems off the streets and behind bars. 

Prometheus stayed down on his knees, but his arm suddenly swung out, the bow in his hand aiming for Oliver’s knees. Jumping back, he dodged the hit, then he spun around just as quickly, turning and kicking Prometheus in the chest. Oliver knew from experience how it felt to be kicked in the chest, so disoriented and unable to breathe for a moment was exactly where he wanted his opponent. 

The man fell onto his back, “kill me, Oliver,” he wheezed, “I know you want to.”

Oliver froze. He’d had no intention of ending Prometheus’ life, but the conviction in the man’s robotic tone threw him off guard. He spoke as if he knew him, a familiarity in the words like he was certain how this would end. Like he  _wanted_ Oliver to kill him.

“Show Felicity the monster you truly are.” He spoke again.

He couldn’t help it... his eyes drifted back to the window, where Felicity still sat on the edge, half in and half out, her eyes wide with terror. He flinched, wondering who exactly she was afraid of. Prometheus, definitely. But was there a part of her that was afraid of him, too? Was the look on her face a combination of terror...of  _both_ of them? Was that why she didn’t tell him she knew he was The Hood five years ago?

Distracted, he didn’t notice Prometheus lunging towards him until he was in the air, looking up at the sky and listening to Felicity’s surprised yelp as he landed on his back with a groan, the wind getting knocked out of him. 

Prometheus stood above him, “does she know?” He asked, his head cocking to the side as he stared down at Oliver.

“Know what?” Oliver croaked.

“That you’re lying to her, Oliver. Does she know?” Prometheus asked, his voice clipped and accusing through his modulator.

“Get away from my brother!” Thea’s voice hissed from behind them.

“Speedy, no,” Oliver gasped, rolling over onto his stomach, crawling towards her. She appeared out of nowhere, but his heart was suddenly in his throat as Prometheus turned to his sister. “No, no!”

Thea held a gun high, which he never knew she had, her arms locked in front of her, the weapon aimed right at Prometheus. She was close enough that it’d be hard to miss, but the idea of his sister taking a life was impossible. “I  _will_ kill you,” Thea contradicted his thoughts, speaking through her teeth, her eyes never leaving Prometheus’ face, the look in her eyes more severe than he’d ever seen.

“I don’t doubt that, miss Queen. You have your brother’s blood. At least some if it.”

“One more step and I shoot.” 

Prometheus paused, but then he chose to test her, taking another slow step towards her. 

Thea fired the gun, and Prometheus dodged the bullet, kicking his leg out to avoid the flesh wound she’d been aiming for, the bullet landing in the ground. “Speedy,” Oliver groaned, getting to his feet.

Oliver saw it a moment too late...the knife in Prometheus’ gloved fist. 

“No!” He shouted, diving to grab it, but Prometheus moved faster, and he was closer to Thea.

The knife was jutting from Thea’s stomach when Prometheus stepped back. “Thea,” Oliver breathed, not caring in the slightest when their enemy used the distraction to slip away. In a matter of seconds, Prometheus was gone, and Thea was slumping into Oliver’s arms, the gun falling from her hand.

Felicity was running towards them, a phone pressed to her ear as she called Lyla for help. Oliver could barely see her, his eyes blurring with tears as his sister’s eyes closed. “Hey,” he choked, curling his hand around the knife to stop the bleeding as best he could. Oliver gently shook Thea, trying to get her eyes to flutter open again, “Speedy?” He choked.

* * *

 

“We need to find Prometheus.”

“We don’t even know where to look, Oliver.” Lyla argued, “My agents tracked Billy Malone to an abandoned mill in the Glades. I know that this is hard for you, but let’s work with what we have. Let’s catch The Throwing Star Killer before he hurts anyone else. We need to take the shot while we have it.”

Oliver was shaking his head as she spoke, and John sighed, shifting uncomfortably, because there was nothing more awkward for him than when his best friend argued with his wife. It was a rare occurrence, which actually made it worse whenever it happened. Usually when it came to these things, John had a harder time seeing the world through Lyla’s black and white glasses than Oliver did.

But tonight he understood.

Prometheus went after Oliver’s family, made it personal, which lit a fire under Oliver. His blinders were on, and he was out for blood. Prometheus’ blood. 

John understood that hurt; his drive for Deadshot had been his top priority for a year, more important than his wife, his city, or his own life...he’d needed to find his brother’s killer. He knew  _exactly_ how Oliver felt, when revenge and justice became the same, both valid.

But his wife was also right. Finding Prometheus would take time. Much longer than the time it would take for Billy Malone to escape from that mill. They had to get him now. “Oliver,” John tried, “Thea will be safe here, there’s nothing we can do on the Prometheus front until Felicity can get us something. The Throwing Star Killer... that’s a mission for me and you. This is something we can do  _tonight_ to make all of us safer.” 

Turning to Felicity, Oliver reached his hand up, about to touch her face before he noticed the blood on his hands. Thea was laid out on the med table in the bunker, white bandages wrapped around her stomach, her shirt cut up the middle so he and Lyla could work on the deep gash below her ribs. They were  _all_ covered in Thea’s blood. So was the table, the floor, and a heap of three ruined towels in the corner. 

But she was alive.  

When Oliver dropped his hand, Felicity stepped closer, taking both of his hands in hers and squeezing. “They’re right...” she mumbled to him, and Oliver’s shoulders sank as he finally listened. “You go stop a serial killer, I’ll be here looking for Prometheus. With any luck, we’ll have a lead by the time you get back.”

He nodded, dropping his head to Felicity’s. She forced a smile, moving her hands up to touch his cheeks as she nodded, giving him one more assurance. And then Oliver sighed, pulling away.

Roy was already heading for his suit, but Oliver caught his shoulder as he passed. “I want you to stay here.” Oliver said.

The look on Roy’s face hardened, “no way. We’re getting this bastard tonight and I’m going to be there to see it.”

“Roy,” Oliver pleaded, exhausted. It made Roy hesitate. “Lyla needs to monitor Thea, I need someone to stay back and protect her and Felicity in case anything happens.”

With the explanation, Roy just nodded, accepting it even if he didn’t look very pleased about it.

Once John and Oliver had their suits on, he kissed his wife goodbye, and then they watched as Oliver approached Felicity again. Her eyes were wide, staring at him, her eyes never leaving him as he walked across the bunker and up the steps. “Wow,” she mumbled, “kind of weird seeing you in that thing with the hood down.”

He nodded, staring back at her like he was trying to decipher how that made her feel. He sighed, shaking his head, and then he pulled a comm out of his pocket and dropped it into Felicity’s hand. “If you need me,”

Felicity raised her eyebrows, spinning around in her chair and pulling up blueprints for the mill before she turned on the speakers, syncing them with the earpieces that they wore to communicate in the field. John shook his head, impressed and amused when she faked dropping a mic, “if  _you_ need  _me_ ,” she told them both with a wink.

On the drive to the Glades, Felicity started by giving them as much information about the building that she could find, laying out the setup and where the exits were. Then she made sure Oliver knew that Thea was doing fine. Then she told them she was running multiple different programs that checked for any kind of connection between Prometheus’ victims, including their daily travel routes, background checks, and any similarities; she was hoping that  _something_ would turn up from that that they could follow. Once Felicity got all of that out, she assured Oliver that Thea was still okay, again, without him having to ask.

Not wanting to be obvious, John parked a few yards down the street, close enough that they could still make a quick getaway if they needed to. 

“I’ll start at the top,” Oliver grumbled, aiming an arrow at the roof. “You start at the bottom. If he’s in here, we’re not letting him get away.”

Diggle nodded, pulling out his gun as Oliver started to scale the wall, climbing to the top. Rounding the building, Dig moved slowly, checking his surroundings and looking inside the mill, stepping as quietly as he could. 

He was just making his way towards the front door again when he caught sight of Oliver coming over the side of the building, Prometheus along with him. “Oh my god,” Dig sighed, watching as he recognized the darker shade of leather, the mask...exactly as it’d been in the photo Lyla had of him, the photo John had stared at until his eyes hurt.

Prometheus tossed an arrow with a line attached as Oliver took him over the edge, both of them free falling above his head until Prometheus’ line caught on the lip of the building, and suddenly they were crashing through the windows of the mill.

Diggle took a moment to count the stories before he started running, pushing his way up the stairs to the tenth floor. His adrenaline was pumping, making it easier than he expected to run up the steps and fill Felicity and Lyla in at the same time. “Prometheus is here.”

“What?” He heard Lyla snap, Felicity’s fingers frantically tapping across the keyboard in the background. 

“He and Oliver are on the tenth floor.” Dig explained.

“No, John...” Felicity trailed off before she spoke to Oliver, “hey,” she said, her voice changing, trying to make Oliver hear her. “Listen to me, it’s a trap. Just like this morning. You have to get out of there.”

“I can’t,” Oliver whispered, “I’m not leaving until I have him.”

John busted out of the stairwell and onto the tenth floor, his gun swinging from side to side, scoping the open and abandoned space. It was some kind of office, but Felicity wasn’t wrong about the trap.

The room was filled with mirrors. As soon as John stepped into the fun-house looking area, he had a bad feeling settling into his stomach. “Oliver, I’m in here...” he mumbled lowly, “watch before you shoot. But we need to take this guy down if we have the chance.”

Dig heard feet shuffling, filling the silence. He followed the sound, frowning. He and Oliver both knew how to walk without giving up their location. Prometheus probably did, too.

He rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of Oliver first, following the same sound, his bow raised. 

And then he saw the target. 

John was a few paces ahead of Oliver, so he had eyes on Prometheus first. It also gave him the extra, important moment to pause. 

Just one split second where his eyes combed over Prometheus. 

In that moment, he saw that the sword in Prometheus’ hand was duct taped. 

The next moment, Oliver was there, releasing an arrow from his bow and sending it into the leather chest a few feet in front of them. “Oliver, no!” John shouted.

One moment after that, Oliver noticed what John had seen, his breath of relief interrupted as he glanced down at Prometheus’ hand. “No,” Oliver mumbled, running and dropping to the lifeless body. 

He pulled off the mask, revealing a dead Detective Malone with his mouth taped shut. “No!” Oliver shook his head, glancing up at Diggle. “It was him...Prometheus, from this morning, he stabbed Thea, he-he was on the roof...”

“It was a trap,” Diggle whispered, as surprised as Oliver was, shouldering some of the weight of what’d just happened. “Malone was never The Throwing Star Killer. He was a pawn...Prometheus did all of this...all of those killings.”

“Damn it!” Oliver screamed, jumping to is feet and burying his leather gloved hand into one of the mirrors, punching it twice before John grabbed his arm, stopping him from cutting through the leather and drawing blood on the shards.

A call to A.R.G.U.S. was John’s decision, wanting them to analyze Billy Malone’s body for any clues...but it also allowed them to cover their tracks. They wouldn’t be able to hide the detective’s death, but they could at least create the narrative, protect Oliver as the mayor and The Green Arrow. 

His partner was in his own head for the whole ride back. John didn’t bother reminding him that Prometheus was still out there, that it looked like he was also responsible for the Throwing Star killings. That would all be addressed as soon as they stepped foot in the bunker, he guessed...instead, he gave Oliver some time, some  _quiet..._ which he apparently needed, because he’d even shut his comm off, disconnecting himself from Felicity.

When they came into the bunker, Oliver made a bee-line for Thea, checking in on her before he finally deflated. His head fell into his hands, his fingers running over his eyebrows as he clenched his jaw. “We need to know everything we can about Prometheus. Why he involved Detective Malone, what his connection to me is, and where we can find him.”

“We might not need to,” Felicity said, pursing her lips. Her monitors were off, and she stood up from her chair. Slowly, she made her way to Oliver, who couldn’t even look her in the eye. “ _He_ killed Malone, Oliver.  _He_ did this, not you. But I thought...if Prometheus is The Throwing Star, then it gives us more to work with.”

“More victims, you mean.” John clarified, folding his arms.

Felicity nodded. “Right. Why create two separate serial killer personas? He wanted you to know him as Prometheus. To know that this was personal, about you...for whatever reason. But The Throwing Star Killer? Those murders were random. Too random. The victims had nothing in common beyond two of them using the same grocery store and two more having family in Central City.”

“What does that have to do with Prometheus?” Oliver asked.

Biting her lip, Felicity rested her hands on Oliver’s crossed arms, looking up at him. “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “ _Absolutely nothing_. I think that was the point. He wanted you to know that the Throwing Star killings were a message.”

“So, what’s he trying to say?” Dig asked, glancing at his teammates. Lyla and Roy both avoided his eyes, making it clear that he and Oliver were the only ones about to receive this news.

“I decided to run a different recognition program. I plugged all of the victim’s names into it...and I put it up against everyone I could dig up that you’ve known, Oliver.”

His eyebrows furrowed, “if it’s someone from my past, Felicity...there’s a much longer list of people who would want to kill me, that you don’t know about.”

She squeezed his arms, “well, turns out...I don’t  _need_ that list.” She took a deep breath before rattling off The Throwing Star Killer’s victims. “Amber Trask, Reese Ostrander, Mark Murray, Elodie Mollison, Kim Yale, Luke Merrill, Cameron Erickson, Penelope Ryder, Quentin Lance, Kala Yami, Henry Nelson.”

She backed up towards the monitors, “the first letter of each last name...” she noted, keeping her eyes on Oliver as she turned the computers on, displaying the link to Oliver that explained everything. 

Yet, it was impossible. 

John and Oliver both stared with wide eyes at her screen as the words “Tommy Merlyn” flashed in red letters, like a warning.


	5. Ode to Sleep

"Stop scratching," Lyla warned, raising an eyebrow but not bothering to look up from the magazine she was flipping through. Thea's irritated sigh made her want to smile, but she was well-practiced in keeping her composure. The younger Queen had a lot in common with her brother, including her annoyance at having to sit still.

Thea crossed her arms and pouted, reminding her much more of a spoiled teenager rather than the CEO of a successful business. Lyla pulled her feet off the edge of Thea’s bed. “Do you need anything?” She offered, trying to keep Felicity’s advice to ‘be compassionate’ in mind.

The whole team was either out of the bunker or upstairs, digging into the possibility that Tommy Merlyn was alive. They’d been at it for days and had yet to find any evidence that Tommy could have survived. Oliver was adamant that he was dead, but The Throwing Star Killer’s attention to his late best friend was a sufficient distraction for him and the rest of Team Arrow.

So Lyla was stuck on “babysit Thea” duty, which was assigned to her with a finger pointed in her face and a stern “be nice to her,” from Felicity as well as a glare of warning from Oliver. 

Thea pulled her lips to the side, her eyes narrowing, “where’s the red hoodie guy?”

Rolling her eyes, Lyla shrugged. Oliver had already spent the last two days down here since his sister woke up, talking to her and telling her everything. He’d been arming himself for a war, so many years of lying to come clean about, but Thea wasn’t angry. She’d received the news even better than Felicity Smoak.

They were all surprised at the lack of yelling after Oliver told Thea he was The Green Arrow, realizing that she was proud of her brother. Lyla wondered if deep down, Thea had already known. 

Yet, out of everything Oliver had filled her in about, including the killings, Tommy’s name coming up from the grave, and the whole team’s involvement in everything...it was Roy Harper that caught Thea’s attention. “Not sure,” Lyla mumbled in response, leaning back in her chair. “I think he went out to get dinner.”

“Oh,” Thea frowned. “Do you know if he’s seeing anyone?”

Lyla understood that Thea was still young, and if she was being honest, the woman’s spunk was a refreshing change compared to all of the stuffy and serious agents she dealt with every day. “Come on,” Lyla huffed, standing up and ignoring the question. It wasn’t any of her business to get involved, so she didn’t want to. “We should probably change your dressings.”

Scrunching up her nose, Thea groaned, “it hurt last time. Do we have to?”

“Yes,” Lyla answered, shooting her a look as she moved towards the medical supplies. “We just have to clean you up with a fresh bandage and wrap.”

“It’s going to be gross though, isn’t it?”

“Well, you  _did_ get stabbed just a couple of days ago. Wounds like that aren’t usually pretty. And your stitches were done by a man who was trained to patch people up in the middle of a war zone, so I wouldn’t call that the best work.” Seeing the way Thea’s eyes widened, Lyla backtracked, “but you’ll be okay! Johnny knew what he was doing. It’ll heal just fine...um, don’t worry.”

Sighing, Thea dropped her head against the pillows and let Lyla work, cutting her out of the wrap she had around her waist and checking the wound. It was healing nicely and didn’t look infected. Which took a weight off of Lyla’s shoulders. 

“I hope my brother kills that son of a bitch,” Thea gritted as she glanced down at the scar. “That thing Prometheus left me with is nasty.”

Lyla shook her head as she reapplied some ointment and put a fresh bandage on Thea’s stomach. “We’ll find him,” she offered, not wanting to give an opinion one way or the other when it came to putting Prometheus in the ground. Although, she wouldn’t complain if a psychopath with a split personality between two serial killers was off the board...she just knew that Team Arrow had a more moral way of doing things. Especially her husband. “For now,” Lyla continued, helping Thea to sit up so she could wrap her up, “you’re safe here.”

Thea nodded, “I imagine so. I’m in an impenetrable fortress with a bunch of vigilantes protecting me. I think this is the safest I’ve ever been.”

Roy came into the room just as Lyla was securing the wrap, and she didn’t miss the way Thea’s eyes lit up a little bit. It didn’t take a genius to see that there were some sparks flying there, but she also knew the bond that Roy and Oliver had. And how Oliver would react to his baby sister clearly having a crush on one of his partners.

“Roy Harper,” Thea grinned. To Roy’s credit, he tried to look like he didn’t notice Thea’s lack of clothing, a sports bra and sweatpants keeping her comfortable. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he answered, his eyes flickering to Lyla and back. “I brought you some soup. If your doc here says it’s okay.”

“If you feel up to it,” Lyla shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”

Thea had been on bed rest for two days, there wasn’t much to get excited about down there, but Lyla couldn’t help but laugh when Thea grinned widely at Roy, rubbing her hands together as if soup was a new sports car on Christmas. “Is it from that restaurant you went to last night?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pulling the containers out of the bag, he nodded. “It’s my favorite place to eat in The Glades. And since you practically ate all my food last night, I figured I’d get you your own.”

“I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it,” Thea licked her lips, only having eyes for the food and the delicious smells filling the room.

“It’s in The Glades. Not exactly your neck of the woods, princess,” Roy teased with a wink, bringing her a bowl and sitting on the edge of her bed. Lyla watched them, both amused and nervous for them. She’d never seen Roy pamper anyone, especially not a girl. Actually, she’d never seen a playful side of him at all. Had she ever seen him  _wink_?

Feeling her eyes on him, Roy glanced up at Lyla, his shoulders stiffening and his eyes narrowing at her knowing look. Oliver wouldn’t be happy about Roy flirting with his little sister. Lyla shrugged, silently saying  _‘it’s your funeral, buddy.’_

Roy rolled his eyes, moving to make sure Thea had everything she needed before he pulled a chair up beside the bed and they started eating. Lyla wasn’t sure where her husband was or when he’d be back, and she thought it was probably about time to check in with him, too. Excusing herself, Lyla headed for the door, giving them some privacy as she wondered how long it would take before Oliver noticed the new development.

When she reached the doorway, Lyla bumped into Oliver, letting out a yelp of surprise. Oliver opened his mouth, an apology that fell short when he glanced over her head. His eyes narrowed, and Lyla followed his gaze. Roy had his feet up on Thea’s bed, and they were laughing about something that Lyla had obviously tuned out. Oliver’s sister didn’t notice him, her tunnel vision focused on Roy.

But Oliver took up most of the doorway, and Roy noticed him after a moment, the smile falling from his face as he sat up, moving his legs off the bed and straightening up. Lyla had to bite back a laugh, the whole interaction reminding her of when she was in high school and would try to introduce her boyfriends to her father. None of her relationships lasted much longer after they met Mr. Michaels. Especially if he mentioned his time as a sniper in the military during the first conversation. Lyla could still hear his voice, boasting his ability to hit a target from an impressive distance.

The look on Oliver’s face was  _just_ like her father’s, but Lyla was confident that Roy Harper didn’t spook as easily as the boys she used to date. In the silence that followed, Oliver and Roy stared each other down while Lyla and Thea glanced between them, both wondering which one would speak first.

Apparently they’d never find out, though. Awkward pauses in conversation made Felicity uneasy, and she made her presence known as she peeked her head in from behind Oliver’s arm, her expression curious as she broke the silence. “Hi!”

Felicity tried to wiggle her way into the room, fighting to get around Oliver’s huge frame. Once he realized what she was trying to do, Oliver moved, letting her slip by him. With one more dramatic glare at Roy, Oliver cleared his throat and turned his attention to Lyla. Felicity hovered by his side, and Thea relaxed, shoving Roy’s shoulder as they resumed their meal.

It wasn’t unusual to see Oliver with dark circles under his eyes. The man was familiar with sleepless nights. In fact, he was probably  _more_ comfortable with only a few hours of sleep during the night. But Felicity was the opposite. The woman looked dead on her feet, and despite their bad blood, it made Lyla start to worry. She’d been through a lot in the last few days, and Lyla couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t seem as bubbly or alert as she had before. 

“You okay?” Lyla mumbled.

It took a moment for Felicity to realize the question was directed at her, and when she did, she nodded profusely, “yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” 

Lyla leveled her look to Oliver, not wanting either of them to think she  _cared_ about Felicity Smoak, “get some sleep.”

Oliver nodded, looking down at Felicity with guilt washing over his face. Lyla knew that he’d been consumed with the current problem. Prometheus and The Throwing Star Killer were one in the same, and it was clear that he was toying with Oliver. He’d hurt Felicity and Thea, killed Captain Lance and Curtis Holt, and they all knew that it was far from over. Prometheus was playing a game, he was challenging Oliver... and if there was a scoreboard, Oliver was losing. “We’re going home after this,” he said gently, more to Felicity than the rest of the room. Then he turned back to Lyla “I just wanted to ask you to do something.”

Lyla crossed her arms, “okay, what?”

“I need you to check in with the A.R.G.U.S agent on Lian Yu.” Lyla raised an eyebrow as Felicity sighed.

“Why?”

“There’s a long list of people I’ve encountered who want to hurt me. But this is more than that. It’s not just an attack. This whole thing, the killings and the clues, everything’s been set up exactly how Prometheus wants it. And there’s only one person I can think of who is capable of something like this. One person who hates me enough to go through all of this.”

“Slade.” Lyla’s eyebrows furrowed as she nodded. “But what does Slade have to do with Tommy? Even if he did get free, why would ‘Tommy Merlyn’ be the message Slade chose to send you?”

Oliver pressed his fingers against his forehead, closing his eyes, “I don’t know, Lyla. We can cross that bridge if we get to it. Could you please check in and make sure that he’s still locked up?” Lyla pursed her lips and nodded. Behind them Roy was pressing a cold water bottle against Thea’s neck and chuckling when she flinched and squirmed away from it. Oliver cleared his throat again, getting their attention. “Hey Roy, think you can hit the streets tonight?”

“I thought you wanted me to stay down here and keep an eye out for Thea and Lyla.”

“He does,” Felicity interrupted as Oliver opened his mouth to argue. She slid her hand over Oliver’s arms, nodding at Roy. “Someone being down here to make sure Thea’s  _safe_ while she heals is the most important thing.” She said, staring up at Oliver. 

He sighed, “okay. Well, you can take the night off. I’ll stay with Thea, you all go home and get some rest.”

Felicity pouted, and Lyla wasn’t sure why she felt the need to interject. But Felicity’s eyes glazed over, as if the idea of another sleepless night in the bunker was the last crack in her armor, and she finally let her exhaustion show. “We’ve got things handled down here, Oliver.” Lyla nodded towards Felicity, who was literally swaying in her high heels with fatigue. Oliver noticed too, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her steady. “You go take Felicity to bed.”

Roy and Felicity each snorted, and Thea groaned. For the first time in years, Lyla felt her face reddening with embarrassment. “Not  _to_ bed,” she tried, shaking her head, “not...like that, just...” she rolled her eyes, “make sure she gets some sleep.” Lyla grumbled, annoyed that Felicity’s constant babbling was rubbing off on her.

* * *

 

When Oliver drove past the turn to the Queen mansion, Felicity tilted her head to look at him. “Where are we going?” She asked, her heart sinking at the loss of his giant, cozy bed and the warm arms she’d been looking forward to falling asleep in.

“A hotel. Diggle booked us a room.” Oliver glanced down at her and lifted his shoulder innocently, telling her that he had nothing to do with it. “He thought it would be safer. And after what happened to Thea in our backyard, I have to agree.”

“We could have stayed at my place,” she mumbled.

Oliver shook his head, “if Prometheus really knows this much about my life, then I have to assume that he knows you’re involved and where he could find you. I can’t risk him knowing what you mean to me.”

Too tired to care about being subtle, Felicity stared at the side of his face as he drove, “what do I mean to you?” She asked lowly, half afraid of what the answer might be.

He didn’t skip a beat, “ _everything_ , Felicity. You mean everything to me.” She didn’t respond, or say much else for the rest of the ride, but she was happy with ‘everything.’ Everything was vague, but it was promising enough, at least for tonight. Felicity stared out of her window, finally letting the thoughts of him creep back in, the quiet dreams she’d always kept to herself. A future with him. Felicity pretended not to notice Oliver stealing glances at her, his eyes combing over her face like he was trying to get inside of her head.

Luckily the hotel was about the same distance from the bunker as Oliver’s home was, which was Dig’s main selling point, knowing that Oliver never would have agreed to going out of town or further away from Thea than necessary. But John was also right that they needed to be somewhere neutral where Prometheus wouldn’t find them so easily. And Lyla was right that Felicity was exhausted and needed some peaceful, uninterrupted rest.

Once he parked, Felicity got out and followed him to the back of the car, where she raised an eyebrow as she realized her bags were already there. He’d been with her the whole time, so either John Diggle was very thorough in his plan, or he wasn’t the only partner that helped. “Your team is prepared,” she smiled, and then she was yawning.

Her eyes slipped shut as she covered her mouth, and Oliver slung the bags over his shoulder and reached for her free hand, leading her inside. “Dinah was already out,” he mumbled, “she offered to pick up your things. And check your apartment.” She easily twined her fingers through his, resting her head on his shoulder as he spoke. It should probably freak her out that his team was worried enough to put them up in a hotel and search her apartment for serial killers, but she’d never felt safer.

Felicity leaned right in to him, realizing that on an instinctive level, she  _trusted_ him. She wasn’t sure if she trusted him with her heart just yet, but she definitely trusted him with her life.

She didn’t let go of his arm as he checked them in, settling comfortably against him while he got their key. Then she let him lead her into the elevator, up to the fifth floor, and into the room. Felicity groaned as soon as she saw the bed, dropping onto it and curling up right in the middle. 

Shaking his head and watching her get comfortable, Oliver started doing a sweep of the room. He checked the closet first, then under the bed, then he looked through all of the drawers of the dresser and nightstands. He scoped out the balcony while Felicity laid still, watching his process. Then he came back inside and combed through the bathroom. When he finally came out, satisfied that there were no serial killers hiding or bugs planted, Felicity met his eyes and smiled. “No monsters?”

He grinned back and nodded, “we’re safe.”

She patted the bed next to her, knowing that she should probably change out of her pants, but taking her heels off before falling onto the bed was as good as it was going to get. Oliver hesitated, looking down at her jeans as if he was thinking the same thing. But then he sighed, dropping back onto the pillows with a deep breath and letting his eyes slip shut as soon as his body was still.

That lasted a total of ten seconds before Felicity grabbed his arm and tugged, pulling him closer, guiding him to wrap himself around her and he didn’t protest in the slightest. He smelled like faint leather and something sweet, and his skin felt so warm beneath her hands as she ran them up and down his arms. She shivered when he wrapped her up, his hands running up and over her back, nestling into her hair.

It struck her again how beautiful and gentle he was. It’d always been there, but in the last five years, she’d seen more of him as the vigilante in a mask on her TV screen. Not  _this_. This felt good. He felt good. It was amazing to drift off listening to his breathing, feeling him. And of course she had to ruin the peace with the first question that popped into her head. “Why don’t you think Prometheus could be Tommy Merlyn?”

He froze at the question, jarring him from the same, silent serenity they’d been falling asleep in. Oliver sighed, but it seemed more sad than annoyed. “Because Tommy is dead.”

She wiggled a bit, pulling back so she could look up at him, “it’s just...I’ve seen a lot of the projects A.R.G.U.S oversees. Magical relics and people with unexplainable abilities. The possibility of aliens. It’s the stuff of a conspiracy theorist’s wet dreams.”

“I know,” he mumbled back, burying his nose in her hair and closing his eyes again. “I’ve seen some of it...I’ve experienced some of it. I know that the world is a much bigger place than most people realize.”

Felicity squirmed in his arms, twisting until she was facing him. Oliver opened his eyes, watching her as she tucked her hand under her head, keeping her face a few inches from his as she shared his pillow, her eyes analyzing him. “So...if even  _half_ of the things I’ve read about in those files are true...then how are you so sure Prometheus can’t be Tommy?”

“I watched Tommy Merlyn  _die_ , Felicity,” he whispered quietly. “Look... I believe in magic,” he said with a shrug, “I’ve seen things that I couldn’t even begin to explain. I know, firsthand, that things aren’t always what they seem to be. But death...it doesn’t have loopholes. It’s final. And Tommy is dead. I-I saw it...I was there when a building came down on top of him. I saw the life leave my best friend’s eyes, he took his last breath and I just...I know-I  _know_ he didn’t survive. There’s no way...” 

Felicity started shaking her head, knowing that this wasn’t something he should have to argue or explain. He trailed off, meeting her eyes evenly and visibly relaxing when he recognized the understanding in her gaze. Her eyebrows furrowed and she placed her hand on his cheek, her eyes softening, wishing she could take away some of the terrible things he’d been through. “Okay,” she whispered, “if you say there’s no way...then I believe you. I believe  _in_ you.”

Oliver let out a sigh of relief, leaning into her hand as he nodded back in appreciation. As soon as Tommy’s name had appeared on the screen, as soon as Prometheus had brought his old friend’s memory into this twisted game, Oliver had become even more stiff than usual. Which she thought wasn’t possible. It’d only been a few days, but his resolve hadn’t faltered in the slightest. He swore that Tommy Merlyn was dead. Most of his teammates had already entertained the contrary, tried to find an explanation. But Oliver felt like all they could do was wait for Prometheus’ next clue. 

It was a frustrating and stressful position to be in. It felt useless and dire. They seemed to be playing Prometheus’ game, although it didn’t look like they had many options. Not now, at least. Not yet. Whatever trick Prometheus was trying to pull by dragging Tommy’s name into it, Oliver was sure that the worst thing to do would be to react to it. To let themselves get distracted by it.

Now was the time to lay low, dig up what they could on Prometheus, and prepare for whatever battle was coming. She was confident in her abilities, but it felt awful to have nothing. No trails to follow or strings to tug on. It made her feel useless, not that Oliver or anyone on Team Arrow would tell her that. But that’s how it felt.

Still, the smile on Oliver’s face was hard to deny. As if all it took to make him happy were the words ‘I believe in you.’ God, she’d tell him that every day if it earned her the look on his face. Felicity was staring up at him, a small smile on her face that matched his. Then she slid closer with a sigh, tucking her head beneath his chin and rubbing her hand over his chest. His eyes slipped shut involuntarily, both of them feeling impossibly relaxed as he held her.

She felt more at peace than she could ever remember, knowing that as long as he was safe, they could worry about the rest tomorrow.

* * *

 

In order to see the big picture, you need to have all of the pieces.

As a detective, Dinah Drake had always believed that. Firmly. She had never been the kind of officer to make moves and hope the evidence came together later. 

She was also very visual and liked to have all of the facts on paper in front of her. It was how she worked best. But Dinah also understood that not everyone was like that, and she clearly had an appreciation for people like Felicity, who could mentally log numerous details and come up with some answers with just a few clicks. But it wasn’t how she worked. Dinah was careful, she worked slowly and methodically. 

Which was why the bunker was a mess of paper, markers, and red string. She’d been up most of the night, making a timeline for what they knew about Prometheus, the murders he’d committed as The Throwing Star Killer, and each of the victims. 

Prometheus had been busy, and Dinah knew that the best way to figure out his game, to solve the puzzle, was to have all of the pieces in front of her. She crossed her arms as she stared up at the glass board, tracking each location of each killing as well as every place they knew Prometheus had been, which unfortunately left a trail from Central City to Starling. The bunker was plastered in her work, hours of analyzing and piecing that left her in a mess of organized chaos. 

Felicity was right about one thing. Aside from the encoded hint from the victims’ names that spelled out “Tommy Merlyn,” there was an uncanny lack of similarities between the victims. As a police officer, she’d never seen anything  _that_ random. It was like Prometheus had known each victim’s life perfectly, and chose them with an abnormal amount of premeditation. He was leaving a trail, but it was more specific than anything she’d ever seen.

It also made her wonder what Prometheus knew about Felicity...the one who had cracked the “Tommy Merlyn” code. Did Prometheus know she’d be the only one who could solve something like that? Was he counting on it? “It was for her,” Dinah whispered to herself, gripping the edges of the table as she stared down at the victims’ profiles, spread out across the table.

Pulling out her phone, she got John on the second ring, answering groggily as she woke him up. “It was for her,” Dinah repeated to him now.

“What?” Dig asked, still half asleep.

Getting irritated that her friend wasn’t waking up and catching up, she huffed, “Tommy Merlyn,” she explained. “The message from Prometheus that Felicity found?”

“Yeah,” John croaked, “what about it?”

“You’re ex-military. I’m a cop. Lyla is the director of a government sect. Harper’s a reformed teenage thief. And Oliver is...a lot of things. But none of us have a background in hacking. No one on this team went to MIT and graduated with degrees in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. God, I should have realized it sooner.”

“You’re saying Prometheus knew Felicity Smoak would be the one to catch his trail. That he knows she’s working with us.”

“I’m saying he knew Felicity would be the  _only_ one who  _could_. Which means it’s not just Oliver that Prometheus has his eyes on.” She breathed, a smile pulling at her lips because despite how much Oliver was going to hate it, if Prometheus had a connection to Felicity too, it narrowed down their options of who he could be. It brought them a tiny step closer. Besides, they were safe in a hotel room. “Dig...Oliver has barely spoken to Felicity in five years. There are only a handful of people in this town who know they have a history.”

“That’s good, right? Means Prometheus must be one of those people.”

Dinah shook her head, staring down at all of the evidence. “I don’t know. I mean, I know we’ve been nudging Oliver to at least  _consider_ the idea that Tommy’s alive and that he could be doing this...we  _have_ to, but...you don’t actually think...”

“I don’t know,” Diggle sighed, and Dinah could practically see him scrubbing his hand over his face like he always did. “We’ve seen some crazy things happen over the years.”

She laughed once, raising her eyebrows, “I guess that’s true. But not-” Dinah sighed, “Oliver is extremely certain that Tommy Merlyn died five years ago. We’ve never seen a damn  _resurrection_ , John.”

“Oliver told us Sara Lance was dead, too. He was certain that Slade Wilson died on the island. We love him and we trust him, but sometimes the people of Oliver’s past aren’t as dead as he thinks they are. That’s all I’m saying.”

Nodding, Dinah slumped down into one of the chairs at the table, staring up at the board as she considered her partner’s words. She’d been on her feet for hours, ever since Thea and Roy fell asleep. “You’re right,” she mumbled, as much as she hated to disagree with Oliver. 

Dinah wasn’t sure if it was her tired mind playing tricks on her, or if it was the new angle from finally sitting down, but the board looked slightly different from the lower angle. She realized that all of the pieces had slowly started blending together throughout the night, like looking at a puzzle too closely. She’d been absorbed inside of the black hold Prometheus had created, and now that she was finally taking a moment to step back, she was able to see a certain detail that she’d been too transfixed to notice before.

“Holy shit,” she whispered to herself, hopping up from her seat and tearing down one of the photographs from the night Curtis Holt died. The night she’d first met Felicity Smoak. 

In fact, Felicity was in the picture. It was taken by one of the first responders at the scene. She was standing in the rain outside of her company, covered in her friend’s blood, just like Dinah remembered meeting her. But like many crime scenes, a crowd had formed as soon as the yellow tape went up, curious bystanders stopping to get a look at the gore and drama. 

Just behind Felicity’s head, attempting to duck out of the frame, one hand coming up too late in an attempt to conceal his face, was Tommy Merlyn. Dinah had never met him, but she recognized the face instantly. It’d been on all of their minds for the past two days.

“Dig, you have to get down here.”

Dinah refused to answer his questions until he came over. So she paced while she waited, contemplating various options; call Oliver, wake up Roy, call her coworkers and get cops out on the streets looking for Tommy? Each time, she decided to wait for John to get there before she acted on anything. Part of her wanted someone to tell her that she was crazy and that it wasn’t Tommy in the photo at all.

When Diggle came downstairs ten minutes later, she marched towards him. “God, finally!” She complained, shoving the picture in his face.

“Easy,” John warned, pushing the picture and her hand away from him. “What’s the big emergency?”

“You wouldn’t have believed me unless you saw it yourself. Look,” She waved the photo in front of him again, and he huffed as he zeroed in on the face she’d circled in red. John’s expression shifted, a grim look that made her heart tighten.

“All right,” he said lowly, “let’s just calm down, we have to talk about this...all of us...before we charge headfirst into something we can’t handle. Billy Malone taught us that.”

“Tommy Merlyn is alive,” she argued, “we have to find him.”

“And what if this is another one of Prometheus’ tricks? Up until now, we haven’t found anything that he didn’t leave for us intentionally.”

Dinah leveled him with a look, waving her arm around the room, “it wasn’t some hidden message. Prometheus was literally telling us exactly who he is. He gave us his name!” She pointed her finger to the man in the photo, meeting Dig’s eyes, “Tommy Merlyn is alive, and he’s Prometheus.”

“Let’s have Felicity look at this and see if it’s authentic before we panic. Come on Dinah, you’re a detective, doesn’t this scream ‘trap’ to you?”

She bit her lip, stopping her racing thoughts to consider it. “Okay, fine. So we don’t go after him with our pitchforks and guns blazing. We play the slow game. Then what?”

“Prometheus is playing chess,” Dig explained with a shrug, “right now, he’s ten steps ahead. We have to assume that he wanted us to see this, we can’t afford to think we have a lead on him when we don’t. And if we did get lucky and this  _is_ a real picture of Tommy Merlyn...we need to keep it hidden for as long as possible. Until we know we can get the jump on him.”

Dinah nodded, relaxing now that she had someone to calm her down. Her methodical brain was coming back to her, breaking out of the panicked spiral she’d been in. It was recon 101. You never want the suspect to know you’re coming, never give them enough time to burn the evidence. Now that she was thinking a little more clearly, Dinah glanced at the clock, feeling bad that she was about to wake up the team with the sun. “You get Roy and your wife. I’ll call Oliver and Felicity.”

* * *

 

Finding Roy asleep in the chair beside Thea’s bed was both comforting and irritating. Oliver was happy because he knew his sister was safe, and that she  _felt_ safe. Roy had definitely been a part of Thea’s acceptance of all of this, but it was annoying because he’d always wanted Thea to be with someone normal. Someone that Thea could settle down with and be happy without worrying whether or not he’d make it home. Someone she wouldn’t have to be afraid to lose.

He’d wanted the same thing for Felicity once upon a time, too...but it was a little too late to play that card with her. He was in it. Still, Thea had only met Roy two days ago. They could walk away and both of them would turn out fine. Not complicated and confused people like he and Felicity were...

“Wake up,” Oliver mumbled, nudging Roy’s shoulder. He startled awake, his eyes darting around the room. And then he relaxed when he saw Oliver. “Dinah has something to show us upstairs,” he said lowly, not wanting to wake Thea up.

“Will she be...” Roy trailed off, looking down at Thea.

Oliver clenched his jaw, but he nodded. “She’ll be fine. Let’s go.” 

Part of the problem was the phone call that had woken him and Felicity up. It’d forced them out of their warm bed, disturbing the best sleep he’d had in a long time just to drag them back to the bunker. Felicity has also been peacefully dreaming in his arms, and that was something he never wanted to get interrupted.

“What’s going on?” Roy asked skeptically. He’d been on the team long enough to know that if he was woken up in the middle of the night, it wasn’t good.

“I don’t know any more than that,” Oliver shrugged, “she just said it was important.”

As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Felicity twirled around in her chair at the table, her sleepy and adorable eyes landing on him. She smiled softly, her hair still messy from the pillows she’d burrowed herself into. She had also slipped on his shirt when they’d gotten the call, buttoning it up to keep her warm. She looked so  _domestic_...and Oliver was suddenly imagining the rest of their lives, being called out of bed for Arrow business, seeing her in the bunker like this, tired but happy as she helped them. Maybe even a ring on her finger...one that suited her beauty. 

The thought made him freeze, but his heart only stopped for a moment before it  _soared_ at the idea. Felicity raised an eyebrow at him, “you two gonna join the party? Dinah’s about to combust over here.” 

Sure enough, Dinah was rocking in her chair, ringing her hands together and staring down at the files stacked in front of her. Oliver pursed his lips and sat down, taking the chair between Lyla and Felicity. Roy rounded the table and sat beside John. Once they were settled, Dinah glanced at them nervously, looking like she was trying to find something to say. After a moment of tense silence, she sighed and flipped over a photograph resting beside the files.

He kept his eyes on Dinah at first, waiting for her to speak, but she shook her head and slid the picture closer to him. Oliver’s gaze zeroed in on the circled face in the photograph, a man picked out of the crowd of people. His heart sunk into his stomach when he recognized the face immediately. “Tommy,” Oliver breathed in surprise.

It was hard not to notice the way Felicity’s head swung around to stare at him. She froze, but he couldn’t look at her, his eyes trained on the photo like he was seeing a ghost. 

Because he really was. 

It didn’t make sense. He could see that the photo was from the night of Curtis Holt’s murder. A place where Tommy didn’t belong. Felicity let them all sit in silence for at least a minute, which was probably a record for her, but then the tension got the better of her. She snatched the photo from his hands, jumping to her feet and beginning to pace as she held the picture up to the light.

Oliver had no idea what she was doing, but he continued to stare at the harmless piece of paper as if it was a loaded gun pointed at her face. “Felicity...” he trailed off, feeling irrationally uncomfortable with her holding it, as if it could hurt her.

She held up a finger to him, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose before she brought the picture to her face. “Prometheus could have doctored this.”

“We were hoping you might say that,” John sighed. “Any way we can know for sure?”

“Where did you get this photo?” Felicity answered with her own question.

“One of the first responders took it. All of our cameras and equipment are locked up at the precinct.” Dinah interjected.

“And when did you download it? When was there a copy of this,” she asked, holding up the photo “on a computer?”

Dinah shrugged, “a couple of hours after the Holt murder, probably.”

Felicity frowned, glancing down at the picture again. He could tell that she was thinking about her friend, and he felt a guilty knot in his stomach. Everything had been moving so quickly, she hadn’t really had the time to mourn. Felicity shook her head, “I need to trace every hard drive this picture was on, it might help us figure out how Prometheus is doing all of this.”

“Let me see,” Oliver whispered, standing up and sidling up to her side. She held the picture out for him, but stayed glued to his side.

Felicity’s eyes shifted between him and the picture as he analyzed it. “What are you looking for?” She asked in a quiet voice.

Now that his focus wasn’t solely on the Tommy Merlyn looking figure, he paid attention to the rest of the shot, raking over every inch of the moment Felicity found herself caught up in a murder. It was hard not to look at her first, her dress stained in blood and her hair wet from the rain. It was just the way he remembered her that night, seeing her at the precinct through the window while Dinah and Quentin interviewed her. It was the same image of her that haunted his dreams, like a reminder that he’d been unable to protect her because he’d pushed her so far out of her life. He didn’t even know about the attack until Dinah was calling him to the station, telling him that they were questioning Felicity. 

With a shiver, he glanced over the rest of the photo, “security camera,” he mumbled back to her, pointing to the club across the street.

“I noticed those too,” Dinah nodded. “I’ve already reached out to the owner of Verdant and asked him to send us the footage.”

“Don’t bother,” Felicity rolled her eyes, “my company is neighbors with a club. I’ve been dealing with that guy and all his loud music and drunk customers for years. He’s a cheap sleazebag, he told me the cameras are just for show. I double checked after Cutis’ murder,” she shook her head disapprovingly, “they don’t even turn on.”

“ _Under_ the security camera,” Oliver clarified, glancing between Dinah and Felicity.

Dinah’s eyes narrowed at him and Felicity had that cute little crease on her forehead. They flanked each side of him to get a better look. Dinah breathed out a laugh when she noticed the homeless man wrapped up in a blanket, huddled in the alley next to Verdant, nearly invisible under his cover and the darkness. “That’s probably our best shot at a witness. Faster than tracking down every bystander in the picture,” she shrugged.

It took them less than a minute to make a plan. Roy instantly offered to stay with Thea, making Oliver’s eyes narrow because Roy  _never_ wanted to stay behind. Especially not with this much going on, but Oliver let it go. John and Lyla were still going to work on tracking down the other faces in the photo, intending to use A.R.G.U.S facial recognition to get a list of names that they could check in with and ask about seeing someone that night fitting Tommy’s description. The plan left Oliver, Felicity, and Dinah to go back to Smoak Tech. Or rather, the alley across the street, to have a conversation with possibly the only person who would know if Tommy Merlyn was really there the night Curtis Holt was killed. Oliver caught Lyla’s arm as they all headed off in different directions. “Slade?”

Lyla shook her head, “still in his cage.”

Oliver sighed, knowing that ruling out Slade only made it seem more likely that Tommy really could be involved. Felicity ran her hand down his arm, reading his mind in the way that only she knew how. “Let’s just hope our homeless friend is still around.”

“He will be,” Oliver answered with a shrug, forcing himself to hope for the best. He slid his hand over Felicity’s shoulders as he led them up the steps towards the parking lot. She glanced up at him curiously, and he waited for her to ask her typical twenty questions. But she just stepped closer, easily slipping under his arm, content to wait and see how this one played out.

When they arrived at Verdant, Felicity stared longingly at her building. The yellow tape was down and the blood was cleaned up, but she’d kept the doors of Smoak Tech shut ever since Curtis died. She said it’d feel wrong to go back to work without getting justice for Curtis, and Oliver guessed that part of her might be a little afraid to be back there. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the look on her face. As much as she missed it, there was something fearful in the way that she looked at the company she’d built. As if her own success wasn’t trustworthy because of what happened in there to Curtis.

Oliver cocked his head to the side, biting his tongue and trying to refocus. One problem at a time. He gently took Felicity’s hand, pulling her attention to the club across the street. The sun was just rising, so the lights of the club were off and it looked deserted. “Usually there’s a hoard of hungover fools stumbling around at this hour.” Felicity grumbled, glaring at the giant green “V” above their heads. He chuckled, believing that it was true because once upon a time he’d definitely been one of those people. But the entire city was under a curfew because of the murders, so the streets were silent.

He gripped Felicity’s hand a little tighter as they walked further into the dark alley, wanting to have a solid hold on her. Dinah led the charge, her back straight and her head high with the confidence he’d only ever seen in law enforcement. 

Dinah gestured to a makeshift tent at the back of the alley, and they slowly approached. She cleared her throat, “excuse me, sir?” He was relieved to hear someone shifting around inside the tent...but he was also on edge, preparing for anything, especially because Felicity was right there. “My name is Dinah Drake and I’m with the SCPD. I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”

The man poked his head out from the tent, a long gray beard reaching his chest and his face and hands covered in dirt. He focused on each of them before he narrowed his eyes at Dinah, clearly not willing to talk to anyone. She raised an eyebrow, pulling out her badge to show him. The man sighed and climbed out of his tent, “what can I do for you, detective?”

Without hesitating, Dinah lifted her phone and showed him a picture of Tommy. It was old, probably one she found online during the drive over. “Have you ever seen this man before?”

Oliver was grateful that he took a moment to look at the picture and think, while all three of them held their breaths, before he finally answered, “nope. Can’t say I recognize him.” He said with a shrug.

They each exhaled, disappointment and frustration rolling off of them. 

Letting go of Felicity’s hand, Oliver felt unexpected anger rising inside of him. Every dead end they’d hit chipped away at his confidence. Every moment they spent following useless leads was another moment that the people he loved were in danger. Prometheus had killed Captain Lance and Curtis Holt. He’d attacked Felicity. He’d almost killed Thea. He’d tricked Oliver into killing Billy Malone. People all over the city had lost loved ones just because Prometheus wanted to play games with him. 

Oliver’s anger exploded with energy, and he let out a frustrated grunt, kicking the closest trash can in his vicinity. The tin can went flying down the alleyway, crashing loudly against the brick wall and then the ground. His breath came out in heavy pants, his fists clenching as they itched for a fight. This was when his sparring dummies came in handy. And the pent-up rage coursing through him usually ended in one or two pieces of broken equipment, but he needed the outlet.

“Jeesh. Sorry, man,” he heard the homeless man mumble, disappearing back into his tent. Oliver ignored him, putting his hands on his hips to stop himself from doing something stupid like punching the brick wall in front of him.

“Hey,” Felicity’s voice was sharp, getting his attention. His eyes slid to her, his body stiff and still. She stared at him, a fire in her eyes. “You done?”

“Not nearly,” he answered lowly, stalking off to the car, leaving her and Dinah to trail behind him.

“I guess that’s all the questions I have,” Dinah grumbled, her footsteps pacing behind him. Oliver kept walking without looking back, reaching the car and unlocking it. He hesitated by the passenger door, waiting for Felicity to catch up so he could open it for her. He knew his temper was getting the better of him, but he felt like everything they did was hopeless. They were playing Prometheus’ game, and it was useless to try to get ahead. It seemed like all they could do was take the hits and pray that they’d survive. But it was the people he cared about who were the pawns here. And it truly felt like there was nothing he could do to stop whatever Prometheus had planned.

Oliver slammed his palm against the top of the car, cursing as Felicity reached him and crossed her arms. She stood toe to toe with him,  _glaring_ up at him. “Give me the keys.”

“What?” He asked, expecting her to say just about anything but that.

“The keys. Give them to me,” she demanded, not bothering with politeness. Not that she should, since he knew he was being an ass. He just couldn’t relax or get a grip on the anger boiling his blood. The fear. As he stared at her, she raised her eyebrows, “you’re not driving when you’re this pissed off,” she told him, “and you’re insane if you think I’m getting in a car with you behind the wheel like this.”

“Felicity,” Dinah started gently, knowing that Oliver had driven countless times in much worse states of mind. She’d seen him flee from a hail of bullets by the skin of his teeth, and make it safely to the bunker before he passed out from blood loss. But Oliver shook his head before she said more. It wasn’t about that. 

Oliver handed Felicity the keys, finding it strange how quickly his anger dissipated. Ever since he came home from the island, it’d taken hours of working out before he’d be able to burn off this much rage. Yet one disappointed and fiery look from her, and it faded. Realizing that she wouldn’t feel safe with him was sobering.

The ride back to the bunker was quiet, and Felicity chose to turn the radio on instead of breaking it with conversation. Oliver accepted that, and he knew an apology was in his near future, but he needed the time to get his head on straight. 

When they reached the bunker, Dinah hurried out of the backseat as soon as the car was in park, speed walking to the building. He opened his door, but Felicity didn’t move, staring straight ahead with her hands gripping the wheel. 

Slowly, Oliver let his door fall shut as he fell back into his seat. She didn’t speak, but he could tell that she had something to say. 

His team knew how to handle his moods, they knew to give him space and let him straighten out his emotions. But Felicity was more than his partner, and maybe it was time he learned a different way that didn’t involve pounding his fists into things until he was too tired to feel angry anymore. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, staring at the side of her face.

“I’ve dated a man with a temper, Oliver.” Felicity breathed, her eyes shifting to him.

Oliver shook his head, remembering the night he’d heard Adrian Chase yelling at her. When he’d been out on her balcony, hiding in the shadows and unaware that she already knew who he was, fighting himself not to break into her apartment as her boyfriend screamed in her face and insulted her. God, he prayed Felicity didn’t see him with the same scope she viewed Adrian Chase. “Felicity,” he said strongly, “I would never speak to you like that.”

She nodded her head, as if all she needed was to hear him say it once. 

“My anger is  _mine_ ,” he told her with just as much conviction. He knew himself. He knew his limits and what he was capable of. Slandering Felicity Smoak or directing his anger at her was simply never going to happen.

“Yours and that trash can’s.”

Oliver chuckled, shaking his head at her subtle way of lightening up any conversation. He looked at her, bringing his hand to her cheek and brushing his thumb across it. Her eyes fluttered shut at his touch, making his heart swell. “I love you, Felicity.” he murmured and her eyes opened slowly to meet his. “I have since the day I met you.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but before he could hear what she had to say, Dinah burst back outside, the door slamming against the wall as she shoved it open. “Get in here, you guys!” She shouted, waving them over.

They both rushed out of the car, running across the parking lot and following her inside as she explained, “there’s no power and the doors are locked. I can’t get in. I tried prying the elevator doors open. It’s useless.”

Felicity pulled out her phone and dialed Thea’s number, which sent her straight to voicemail. Then she tried Roy and got the same result. “Their phones aren’t working. Don’t you have a fail safe if the door gets locked from the inside?”

Dinah shook her head as Oliver pulled out his own phone to call John. “No, it’s built like a bomb shelter,” she explained. “There’s no way of getting down there once the Apocalypse comes. The power in the whole building is off...”

Pacing, Oliver’s shoulders slumped when John answered on the second ring. “Dig, are you in the bunker?”

“No. We got the list of witness names from A.R.G.U.S. We’re on our way back, we just stopped to pick up some coffee for everyone. What’s happening?”

“Felicity,” Dinah said as John spoke, “cover your ears.” She nudged Felicity to stand behind her, waiting until she and Oliver both took the advice, and then she screamed.

Felicity’s jaw dropped, and Oliver cringed, forgetting to mention that one little detail about Dinah Drake to Felicity... Dinah’s effort was pointless though. Her scream was no match for the meta-dampening technology they’d had Star Labs install in the bunker’s doors. It’d been a good idea at the time, meant to protect them, not prevent them from getting in. 

Oliver sighed once Dinah stopped, putting his phone back to his ear to tell John, “Thea and Roy are trapped.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed! Let me know what you think!! :)


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